The 108th PGA Tour season will begin on Thursday with the 2022 Fortinet Championship from the Bay Area. The first tee times come at 10 a.m. ET. Hosted at the North Course of Silverado Country Club, the season's inaugural event will have an $8 million purse with $1.44 million going to the victor. Last year, it was Max Homa who took home the winner's share with a one-stroke victory over Maverick McNealy. The two of them are back again as part of the Fortinet Championship 2022 field, and every previous winner of this tournament since 2015 will also tee off on Thursday.
Homa is the 10-1 favorite, per Caesars Sportsbook, in the latest 2022 Fortinet Championship odds as he seeks his fifth PGA Tour victory. World No. 16 Hideki Matsuyama is the highest-ranked player in the field and is listed at 16-1, as is Corey Conners. McNealy and Cameron Davis are at 22-1, while 2020 winner Stewart Cink is a massive 130-1 underdog. Before locking in your 2022 Fortinet Championship picks, be sure to see the PGA Tour predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's proven golf model.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, the model is up over $9,500 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure's model included J.T. Poston in its best bets to win the 2022 John Deere Classic. That bet hit at +5500, and for the entire tournament, McClure's best bets returned almost $1,100. At the 2022 Masters, McClure's model was all over Scottie Scheffler's first career major championship victory heading into the weekend.
In addition, McClure's best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright at the 2021 Open Championship, even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. The model was also all over Jon Rahm's (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner.
This same model has also nailed a whopping eight majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2022 Fortinet Championship field is locked, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
Top 2022 Fortinet Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2022 Fortinet Championship: Matsuyama, an eight-time PGA Tour champion and one of the top favorites, stumbles this week and finishes outside the top five. Matsuyama got off to a blistering start last season, winning two of his first six tournaments. However, the 2021 Masters champion struggled down the stretch, finishing T-35 or worse in four of his last five events.
In addition, Matsuyama was inconsistent with his putter last season, ranking 114th in strokes gained: putting (-.028) and 121st in 3-putt avoidance (3.01%), which doesn't bode well for his chances to win this week. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in the 2022 Fortinet Championship field.
Another surprise: Brendan Steele, a 45-1 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. There are seven golfers in this year's field that are previous Fortinet champions, but Steele is the only multi-time champion in tournament history. He went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, and both wins came at Silverado's North Course. He's also played well recently at the course and enters this year's event with 11 straight rounds of shooting par or better.
Steele has shot so well here because the course is favorable to good ball-strikers and that's where his strength lies. Last season he ranked sixth on tour in strokes gained: off-the-tee (.694) and 16th in greens in regulation percentage (69.33 percent). He was also among the top 15% on tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green (.884), as he's exceptional with either a driver or iron in his hands. Given his history with this course and a current game which should play well here, Steele is going heavily undervalued in 2022 Fortinet Championship bets. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2022 Fortinet Championship picks
The model is targeting four other golfers with odds of 30-1 or longer who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these long shots could hit it big. You can only see the model's picks here.
So who will win the Fortinet Championship 2022? And which longshots stun the golfing world? Check out the 2022 Fortinet Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2022 Fortinet Championship leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed eight golf majors, including this year's Masters.
2022 Fortinet Championship odds, field
See full Fortinet Championship 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Max Homa 10-1
Hideki Matsuyama 16-1
Corey Conners 16-1
Maverick McNealy 22-1
Cameron Davis 22-1
Sahith Theegala 28-1
Taylor Pendrith 30-1
Davis Riley 35-1
Emiliano Grillo 40-1
Alex Noren 45-1
Brendan Steele 45-1
Denny McCarthy 45-1
Andrew Putnam 45-1
Chris Kirk 50-1
Tom Hoge 50-1
Troy Merritt 50-1
Thomas Detry 50-1
Taylor Montgomery 50-1
Justin Suh 60-1
Chez Reavie 60-1
Gary Woodland 60-1
Taylor Moore 60-1
Trey Mullinax 60-1
Alex Smalley 65-1
Cameron Champ 65-1
Jason Day 65-1
Webb Simpson 65-1
Wyndham Clark 65-1
Matt Kuchar 65-1
David Lipsky 75-1
Adam Long 75-1
J.J. Spaun 75-1
Luke List 90-1
Nick Hardy 90-1
Justin Lower 100-1
Rickie Fowler 100-1
Carl Yuan 100-1
Mark Hubbard 100-1
Brendon Todd 100-1
Patrick Rodgers 100-1
Kevin Streelman 100-1
Michael Thompson 110-1
Adam Svensson 110-1
Callum Tarren 110-1
Chesson Hadley 110-1
Martin Laird 110-1
Stephan Jaeger 110-1
Joseph Bramlett 110-1
John Huh 130-1
Michael Gligic 130-1
Beau Hossler 130-1
Christopher Gotterup 130-1
Russell Knox 130-1
Zac Blair 130-1
Charley Hoffman 130-1
Tyler Duncan 130-1
Matthew NeSmith 130-1
Cameron Percy 130-1
Peter Malnati 130-1
C.T. Pan 130-1
Lee Hodges 130-1
Brandon Wu 130-1
Nick Taylor 130-1
Dylan Frittelli 130-1
Stewart Cink 130-1
Austin Eckroat 130-1
Michael Kim 150-1
Vincent Whaley 150-1
James Hahn 150-1
Matti Schmid 150-1
Greyson Sigg 150-1
Hayden Buckley 150-1
Robby Shelton 150-1
Harris English 150-1
Will Gordon 150-1
Lucas Glover 150-1
Doc Redman 150-1
