The 21-year-old Akshay Bhatia will look to continue his ascent when he tees off in the 2023 Fortinet Championship beginning Thursday at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif. A golf prodigy who turned pro at age 17, Bhatia earned his first PGA Tour victory two starts ago when he won the Barracuda Championship in a playoff. He also had four top-10 finishes in his 19 events during the 2022-23 regular season. This week, Bhatia is a +4500 longshot in the latest 2023 Fortinet Championship odds.
Max Homa, who has won the Fortinet Championship the last two years, is the tournament favorite at +750. Justin Thomas (+1400), Sahith Theegala (+1800), Stephan Jaeger (+2000, and Cam Davis (+2500) round out the top five choices in the Fortinet Championship 2023 field. Before locking in any 2023 Fortinet Championship picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour. Since July, McDonald has gone 11-6-1 with his head-to-head picks, including an 8-1 record over the last three weeks of last season. He also nailed Russell Henley to be the first-round leader in the Wyndham Championship at 40-1 odds.
Now, McDonald has focused his attention on the 2023 Fortinet Championship field and locked in his best bets. See who they are at SportsLine.
Top 2023 Fortinet Championship expert picks
One surprise: McDonald is taking a stand against Homa, the two-time defending Fortinet champion. The 32-year-old from California is trying to win the Fortinet Championship for the third straight year. No player has won the same PGA Tour event three years in a row since Steve Stricker pulled off the feat at the John Deere Classic in 2009-11.
While Homa has had success on the North Course at Silverado, he also has struggled there. Prior to 2021, he had played four times at Silverado, with his best showing being a 39th-place finish. In 2016, he missed the cut, shooting 80-72. See whom else to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2023 Fortinet Championship picks
McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2023 Fortinet Championship and is backing several longshots, including one who is priced higher than 60-1. This player “has had prior success at this golf course” and is a longshot who could surprise. You can see McDonald’s PGA Tour picks only at SportsLine.
So which players should you target or avoid for the 2023 Fortinet Championship, and which player in the Fortinet Championship 2023 field could bring a huge payday at more than 60-1? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for Fortinet Championship 2023, all from the expert who is 8-1 with his last nine head-to-head picks and nailed Russell Henley to be the first-round leader in the Wyndham Championship at 40-1 odds.
2023 Fortinet Championship odds, field
See McDonald’s picks, best bets and predictions here.
Max Homa +750
Justin Thomas +1200
Sahith Theegala +1800
Cam Davis +2000
Stephan Jaeger +2000
Beau Hossler +2800
Eric Cole +3500
J.J. Spaun +3500
Lucas Herbert +4000
Andrew Putnam +4000
Brendon Todd +4500
Akshay Bhatia +4500
Alex Noren +5000
Justin Suh +5000
Matt Kuchar +5500
Chez Reavie +5500
Webb Simpson +5500
Nick Hardy +6000
Doug Ghim +6000
Davis Thompson +6000
Taylor Montgomery +6000
Mark Hubbard +6000
Garrick Higgo +6500
Sam Stevens +6500
Peter Kuest +6500
Sam Ryder +6500
Kevin Streelman +6500
Chesson Hadley +7000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +7000
Cameron Champ +7000
Austin Eckroat +7000
Luke List +8000
Mackenzie Hughes +8000
Dylan Wu +8000
MJ Daue +8000
Taylor Pendrith +8000
C.T. Pan +9000
K.H. Lee +9000
Kevin Yu +9000
Stewart Cink +9000
Greyson Sigg +9000
Nate Lashley +9000
S.H. Kim +9000
Erik van Rooyen +9000
Ryan Palmer +9000
Charley Homan +10000
Hayden Springer +10000
David Lipsky +10000
Callum Tarren +10000
Andrew Novak +10000
Matt NeSmith +12500
Ryan Gerard +12500
Tyler Duncan +12500
Will Gordon +12500
Ben Martin +12500
Chad Ramey +12500
Troy Merritt +15000
Scott Stallings +15000
Matti Schmid +15000
Lanto Griffin +15000
Carson Young +15000
Harry Hall +15000
Doc Redman +15000
Justin Lower +15000
Martin Laird +15000
Aaron Baddeley +17500
Scott Piercy +17500
Zecheng Dou +20000
Peter Malnati +20000
Vince Whaley +20000
Adam Long +20000
Joel Dahmen +20000
S.Y. Noh +20000
Zach Johnson +20000
Patton Kizzire +22500
Austin Smotherman +22500
Jimmy Walker +22500
Ryan Moore +22500
James Hahn +22500
Kevin Tway +22500
Carl Yuan +22500
Zac Blair +22500
Preston Summerhays +22500
Devon Bling +22500
Robby Shelton +25000
Trevor Cone +27500
Tano Goya +27500
Cameron Percy +27500
Kevin Roy +30000
Russell Knox +30000
Robert Streb +30000
Brice Garnett +30000
Kramer Hickok +30000
Harry Higgs +35000
Kevin Chappell +35000
Ryan Armour +40000
Augusto Nunez +40000
Kevin Kisner +40000
Henrik Norlander +40000
Brent Grant +40000
Nico Echavarria +40000
Jonathan Byrd +40000
Scott Harrington +40000
Jason Dufner +40000
Richy Werenski +40000
Cody Gribble +40000
Harrison Endycott +40000
Chris Stroud +50000
Sean O’Hair +50000
Austin Cook +50000
Chase Sienkiewicz +50000
Ben Taylor +50000
Kelly Kraft +50000
Wesley Bryan +50000
Satoshi Kodaira +50000
Yuxin Lin +50000
Fred Biondi +75000
Sung Kang +75000
Trevor Werbylo +75000
Kyle Westmoreland +75000
Hank Lebioda +75000
Tyson Alexander +75000
Dylan Frittelli +75000
William McGirt +75000
Paul Haley II +100000
Greg Chalmers +100000
Brian Stuard +100000
Michael Gligic +100000
Martin Trainer +100000
Geo Ogilvy +100000
Sangmoon Bae +100000
Max McGreevy +100000
Scott Brown +100000
Matthias Schwab +100000
D.J. Trahan +100000
Brian Gay +100000
Brandon Matthews +100000
Jim Herman +150000
Tommy Gainey +200000
J.B. Holmes +200000
Nick Watney +250000
Derek Ernst +250000
Andrew Landry +250000
Ted Potter, Jr. +250000
Ben Crane +250000
Derek Lamely +250000
Ricky Barnes +250000
Morgan Deneen +500000
Kyle Stanley +500000
Tom Johnson +500000
Kevin Stadler +500000
Arjun Atwal +500000
D.A. Points +500000