Out of the Rough: Procore Championship (2025)

The 2025 PGA TOUR season has come to an end and after a brief two week hiatus, the Tour returns with the beginning of the FedEx Cup Fall.

Players who were ranked 51st or worse in the FedEx Cup Standings after the FedEx Cup Playoffs will now compete across seven events this fall in an attempt to keep their PGA TOUR card.

Golfers will begin with their FedEx Cup points from the regular season as well as the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

At the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Fall, those ranked within the top 100 of the FedEx Cup standings will receive full PGA Tour exemption for the 2025 season. Additionally, the top ten players on the points list that are not yet eligible for the Signature Events will get into the first two of the season beyond The Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Those who begin the FedEx Cup Fall ranked 51st to 70th have already clinched PGA Tour eligibility for the 2025 season but will compete for spots in the first two Signature Events.

At the end of the FedEx Cup Fall, those who rank 101-125 will receive conditional status for the 2025 season. They will then begin the process of regaining or gaining TOUR status via the PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

The first of those seven events takes place this week in the 2025 edition and the 19th playing of the Procore Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa, California.

Formerly the Safeway Open, the Frys.com Open and most recently the Fortinet Championship, Procore takes over as the title sponsor for this fairly-new event to the PGA TOUR, being played since 2007.

The event found its home at the Silverado Resort in 2014, making this year’s installment the 12th consecutive year.

The Field

With the Ryder Cup taking place in just over two-weeks time, ten-of-the-12 members of Team USA will use this event as a final tune-up.

Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Harris English, Russell Henley, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young and Sam Burns will each tee it up this week.

Xander Schauffele is the only eligible member of Team USA to not be playing this week as Bryson DeChambeau is not eligible.

Of course, those ten names will headline this week’s field. 

Other notable names teeing it up this week include Maverick McNealy, Akshay Bhatia, Max Greyserman, Matt McCarty and Nico Echavarria.

Patton Kizzire comes in as the defending champion, having run away with this event a season ago, topping David Lipsky by five strokes.

Other former winners of this event at the Silverado Resort teeing it up this week include Sahith Theegala (2023,) Max Homa (2021 & 2022,) Cameron Champ (2019) and Emiliano Grillo (2015.)

The Course

The North Course at Silverado Resort plays as a Par 72 at 7,123 yards.

It was originally a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that opened in 1957. In recent years, under the guidance of new co-owner and PGA TOUR veteran Johnny Miller, the course has undergone a substantial reworking.

Among the renovations, Miller lengthened the track to just over 7,200 yards. He also widened the narrow corridors.

Miller was known for his aggressiveness off-the-tee when he was on TOUR so it is only fitting that he adjusted his golf course to allow for driver as much as possible off-the-tee.

The fairways featured this week still run on the narrower side when it comes to PGA TOUR tracks, but many of the holes do feature straight-away tee-to-green layouts where golfers can rip it off-the-tee.

Miller also did significant work re-configuring the fairways and greenside bunkers since his acquiring of the course.

The fairways this week are tree lined and there are some water hazards in play. As previously mentioned, these fairways are a bit narrower than most courses, but they are rather generous.

Going along with the generous fairways, the rough is hardly a problem as well. It is grown out to just 2.5 inches so there isn’t much of a penalty for missing the fairway this week, again, playing to the likes of those who are long off-the-tee.

The greens are majority poa annua and are small in comparison to the PGA Tour scheduled courses. They do run on the slower side of the Stimpeter but being a grass not seen often, those who are versed in such greens will see an advantage this week.

The slower greens also allow for a higher-than-average greens in regulation percentage here at  the Silverado Resort. 

This course is also rather short, playing at just over 7,200 yards. On top of that, just one par-four measures over 450 yards. This adds an emphasis to short irons, specifically from 75-150 yards when it comes to approach play.

Three of the four par fives features this week are also reachable in two.

The par threes are the main line of defense at the North Course at Silverado Resort however. Each of the four par-threes play over 180 yards. Three of the four par threes rank within the top four of the most difficult holes relative to par at this golf course.

The course also underwent a “reimagination” from the 2022 playing. This simply means that the course was rerouted. The only difference between 2022 and 2023 was the order of the holes that the course will be played at.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday calls for the highest chance of precipitation at just 15-percent. Friday currently calls for just a ten-percent chance, Saturday a zero-percent chance and Sunday a five-percent chance. Temperatures will be at the lowest on Thursday at 76-degrees before gradually increasing to 80-degrees come Sunday. Winds will begin at nine miles-per-hour on Thursday before increasing to ten miles-per-hour on Friday and 11 miles-per-hour on Saturday. Winds will settle back down to nine miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT)

• Average Driving Distance

• Strokes Gained: Putting on Poa Annua (SG: PUTT Poa)

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• Scrambling

• Proximity to the Hole from 75-150 Yards

• Par Five Average Scoring

• Par Three Average Scoring

• Birdie or Better Percentage

DFS Suggestions

$10,000+

With just three golfers in this price range, I’m going for the middle option in Justin Thomas ($10,200.) Thomas is currently third on Tour in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, third in birdie-or-better percentage, 24th in SG: ATG, 31st in SG: APP, 74th in average driving distance, 74th in par-three average scoring, 76th in scrambling, 80th in par-five average scoring, 81st in SG: OTT and 82nd in SG: PUTT Poa. He placed seventh at the TOUR Championship, 33rd at the BMW Championship, 28th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, 34th at The Open Championship, 22nd at the Genesis Scottish Open and ninth at the Travelers Championship as of late. He last played this event in 2023 where he finished fifth. 

$9,000-$9,900

With the majority of Team USA’s Ryder Cup squad occupying this price range, I’ll lead things off with J.J. Spaun ($9,200.) Spaun placed 25th at the Tour Championship, 23rd at the BMW Championship, second at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, 23rd at The Open Championship, missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open, placed 14th at the Travelers Championship and won the U.S. Open coming into this week. He’s played this event each of the past five seasons. He placed 26th here a season ago, 11th in 2023, 59th in 2022, missed the cut in 2021 and ninth in 2020. He is currently seventh on Tour in SG: APP, 37th in SG: PUTT Poa, 40th in SG: OTT, 40th in par-three average scoring, 49th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, 54th in birdie-or-better percentage, 67th in average driving distance, 67th in par-five average scoring, 79th in scrambling and 83rd in SG: ATG. He is also on my betting card at +3000. Also consider Sam Burns ($9,700.) Burns placed seventh at the TOUR Championship, fourth at the BMW Championship, 28th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, 61st at the 3M Open, 45th at The Open Championship, 47th at the Genesis Scottish Open, 17th at the Travelers Championship, seventh at the U.S. Open, second at the RBC Canadian Open, 12th at the Memorial Tournament and 19th at the PGA Championship. He’s played this event once over the past five seasons, placing seventh in 2020. Burns is currently 19th on Tour in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, 19th in birdie-or-better percentage, 34th in SG: PUTT Poa, 40th in par-three average scoring, 52nd in average driving distance, 64th in scrambling, 67th in par-five average scoring, 72nd in SG: OTT, 76th in SG: ATG and 115th in SG: APP. 

$8,000-$8,900

Leading off this price range is Akshay Bhatia ($8,700.) Bhatia is currently tenth on Tour in par-three average scoring, 11th in SG: APP, 12th in SG: PUTT Poa, 12th in birdie-or-better percentage, 18th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, 98th in SG: OTT, 124th in par-five average scoring, 128th in average driving distance, 142nd in SG: ATG and 144th in scrambling. He placed 13th at the TOUR Championship, 26th at the BMW Championship, sixth at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, 25th at the 3M Open, 30th at The Open Championship and 26th at the Rocket Classic coming into this week. He last played this event in 2023 where he missed the cut but placed ninth here in 2020. He is also on my betting card at +4000. Also consider Thorbjorn Olesen ($8,100.) Olesen is currently third on Tour in par-three average scoring, 13th in SG: PUTT Poa, 15th in par-five average scoring, 60th in average driving distance, 67th in SG: APP, 67th in SG: OTT, 71st in SG: ATG, 86th in birdie-or-better percentage, 108th in scrambling and 126th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards. Olesen last played the Amgen Irish Open on the DP World Tour where he placed T20th. He also played the Danish Golf Championship on the DP World Tour where he placed T16th. He last played the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour where he placed 62nd. He also placed 14th at the 3M Open. He’ll be making his tournament debut this week. 

$7,000-$7,900

In this price range I’ll kick things off with Kevin Roy ($7,200.) We last saw Roy at the Wyndham Championship where he missed the cut but prior to that he placed 28th at the 3M Open, 35th at the Barracuda Championship, third at the John Deere Classic, eighth at the Rocket Classic and 18th at the RBC Canadian Open. He played this event in both 2023 and 2022 where he missed the cut both times. Roy is currently 28th on Tour in birdie-or-better percentage, 29th in par-five average scoring, 38th in SG: OTT, 43rd in SG: PUTT Poa, 51st in average driving distance, 53rd in par-three average scoring, 55th in scrambling, 68th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, 72nd in SG: ATG and 85th in SG: APP. Also consider Ricky Castillo ($7,300.) We last saw Castillo at the Wyndham Championship where he placed 23rd. He missed the cut at the 3M Open but placed 23rd at the Barracuda Championship and 34th at the ISCO Championship prior. He’ll be making his tournament debut this week. Castillo is currently 21st on Tour in scrambling, 23rd in SG: OTT, 27th in average driving distance, 35th in SG: ATG, 39th in SG: PUTT Poa, 55th in par-five average scoring, 76th in birdie-or-better percentage, 78th in SG: APP, 122nd in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards and 157th in par-three average scoring. 

$6,900-

First up in this final price range is Chan Kim ($6,700.) Kim is currently 15th on Tour in par-three average scoring, 22nd in par-five average scoring, 47th in SG: APP, 47th in SG: ATG, 60th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, 63rd in average driving distance, 71st in birdie-or-better percentage, 88th in scrambling, 107th in SG: PUTT Poa and 131st in SG: OTT. He’s missed three straight cuts coming into this week but placed 14th at the ISCO Championship and 19th at the Rocket Classic previously. He played this event a season ago where he placed 26th. Also consider Ben Kohles ($6,900.) Kohles is currently 14th on Tour in SG: APP, 26th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, 29th in par-three average scoring, 53rd in scrambling, 62nd in SG: OTT, 91st in par-five average scoring, 96th in birdie-or-better percentage, 117th in SG: ATG, 142nd in average driving distance and 143rd in SG: PUTT Poa. He missed the cut in his last outing at the Wyndham Championship but prior to that placed 20th at the 3M Open, eighth at the ISCO Championship, 44th at the John Deere Classic and 78th at the Rocket Classic. He placed 64th here a season ago and missed the cut in 2021. 

Betting Card

• J.J. Spaun (+3000)

• Akshay Bhatia (+4000)

• Patrick Fishburn (+10000)

• Sam Ryder (+15000)

Patrick Fishburn (+10000)

Fishburn placed third at this event a season ago in his sole appearance. He too is in some great form coming into this week. He placed eighth in his last outing at the Wyndham Championship, 44th at the 3M Open, 52nd at the Barracuda Championship, sixth at the ISCO Championship and 18th at the John Deere Classic. He is currently 43rd in Tour in SG: OTT, 54th in average driving distance, 55th in par-five average scoring, 69th in SG: PUTT Poa, 71st in birdie-or-better percentage, 74th in par-three average scoring, 84th in SG: APP, 88th in scrambling, 93rd in SG: ATG and 95th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards. 

Sam Ryder (+15000)

Ryder is currently 15th on Tour in scrambling, 15th in par-three average scoring, 44th in SG: PUTT Poa, 48th in birdie-or-better percentage, 85th in SG: ATG, 89th in proximity to the hole from 75-150 yards, 96th in SG: APP, 111th in average driving distance and 131st in par-five average scoring. He placed 19th in his last appearance at the Wyndham Championship, 68th at the 3M Open and 14th at the Barracuda Championship. He’s had a mixed-bag of results here over the past five seasons, missing the cut in 2024, 2022 and 2020. He placed 14th here in 2023 and 58th in 2021.