PREVIEW: 2024 PGA Tour – Procore Championship

The PGA Tour returns after a brief hiatus for the first event in its recently reenvisaged FedEx Cup Fall Series: the Procore Championship.

Procore Championship

Formerly known as the Safeway Open and Fortinet Championship, this is a fairly new event that only began life in 2007. Procore took over sponsorship duties earlier this year and this will be the first edition known as the Procore Championship.

This will be the second season that this event leads off the revamped FedEx Cup Fall Series. Prior to last season, the top 125 had already secured their playing rights going into this wraparound season. The stakes rose last season, with only the top 70 players from the regular season guaranteeing their tour card.

The remaining players will be in a desperate bid to secure their PGA Tour status (amongst other permutations that I will briefly discuss).

Players will begin this series with all the points they accumulated throughout the regular tour season (plus the first FedEx Cup Playoff event).

No’s 51-70 in the regular standings have secured their cards and they will be competing for places in next season’s Signature Events. No’s 71 and up will be competing for one of ten spots available in those Signature Events, but their main priority will be to finish inside the top 125. 500 FedEx Cup points will be awarded to the winner of every event.

The players who finish between 125 and 150 in the FedEx Cup Fall rankings will have conditional PGA Tour status for next season. Those who finished in the top 50 are allowed to participate. But there will be no FedEx Cup points assigned to them (just world ranking points and cash). It would be nice to see the system reconfigured to offer more of an incentive to the top dogs.

The North Course

This will be the 11th consecutive year that Silverado Resort hosts this event. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, the North Course was opened way back in 1957.

But it has been renovated extensively in recent years, with Troon Golf and Johnny Miller taking shots at the layout. The course has an esteemed history, with champions such as Nicklaus, Miller and Watson. Recent winners include Max Homa and Cameron Champ, which seems to suggest that power is essential here.

However, accuracy and clean approach play have proven to be far greater barometers of success. But the greens could prove to be the most decisive factor this week.

Johnny Miller emphasised keeping the greens at tournament speed during his 2011 remodel (despite making the course more amenable to the resort player in every other way). The first seven course winners ranked inside the top 10 for scrambling. These Poa Annua greens are undulating and slick and tend to suit the local West Coasters.

The Contenders

The President’s Cup will take place in two weeks and a number of those players will be in action this week. First-time President’s Cup member Sahith Theegala leads the field this week.

The defending Silverado champ was brilliant at East Lake, ultimately settling for third in the FedEx Cup standings.

Max Homa is a two-time Silverado champ who has endured a disastrous campaign. Jim Furyk selected him as a captain’s pick and Homa will be hoping that this course can give him some confidence.

Wyndham Clark has been coming right in recent weeks and he will be the 3rd member of the US President’s Cup side teeing it up this week.

The trio of Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Min Woo Lee will also be using this week as preparation, as they will form part of Mike Weir’s International side for the upcoming biennial event.

Past Winners

2023: Sahith Theegala (-21)
2022: Max Homa (-16)
2021: Max Homa (-19)
2020: Stewart Cink (-21)
2019: Cameron Champ (-17)
2018: Kevin Tway (-14) *playoff

To Win Outright:

Sahith Theegala 10/1 | Wyndham Clark 11/1 | Corey Conners 14/1 | Min Woo Lee 20/1 | Max Homa 22/1

Value Bets

Maverick McNealy – To Win 22/1 | To Place 48/10

Maverick McNealy has enjoyed a consistent campaign, picking up eight top-20 finishes in 2024 (his highest in a season). He was plagued by injuries last year and did plenty of work with Butch Harmon in the off-season (which clearly paid dividends).

He is very familiar with this area, making his professional debut at Silverado. He has enjoyed mixed results here but he did finish runner-up in 2022.

You can see exactly why he plays so well here. He ranks 5th in the field for Strokes Gained: Putting on West Coast Poa (talk about a niche category).

Mac Meissner – To Win 45/1 | To Place 19/2

I’m opting for Mac Meissner as my longshot option this week. Meissner finished the season quite well, picking up an average of four strokes on the field for ball striking in his last five events.

He also comes in here in solid Californian form: he was in the final group after 54 holes of the Barracuda Championship.

The Man to Beat – Wyndham Clark – To Win 11/1 | To Place 24/10

This one is based more on ‘feel’ than anything else. 2023 US Open champ Wyndham Clark enjoyed an electrifying start to the campaign, winning at Pebble Beach and picking up runner-up finishes at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass.

He cooled off in spring but came back strongly towards the end of the FedEx Cup season, picking up six top-14 finishes in his last seven events of the campaign. Sure, he has never finished in the top-25 here in five previous appearances.

But he will be competing at the upcoming President’s Cup, and I can see him using this as a catalyst to a strong showing at Royal Montreal.