BMW Championship 2026 odds, picks, predictions, props: Expert fading Kurt Kitayama at St. Louis
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- Scottie Scheffler is the +310 favorite at the 2026 BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club, chasing back-to-back titles after winning last year's event by two strokes over Robert MacIntyre at 15-under
- Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg, and Xander Schauffele are all listed at +1600 as the next tier, with first-round tee times beginning at 10:03 a.m. ET Thursday on the par-70, 7,448-yard layout
- Brady Kannon, a SportsLine golf handicapper with 30-plus years of experience who has called eight major winners since 2013 and hit 110-1 longshot Harris English at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open, released his best bets, props, sleepers and golfers to avoid
- Kurt Kitayama at 45-1 is one of Kannon's explicit fades, with the expert citing his weak short game and "pedestrian" stats at last week's Memphis event where he finished 12th — his first top-15 finish in seven starts
- Kitayama climbed from 33rd to 28th in the FedExCup standings after Memphis, and Kannon questioned whether the UNLV product will "exhale" or face added pressure to maintain his Tour Championship spot
Why it matters: Scheffler's +310 price reflects a chase for back-to-back BMW titles not seen since Patrick Cantlay in 2021-22, while Kitayama backers get a sharp-money fade signal from a handicapper who is 56-51-8 on head-to-head bets — Kitayama's short-game weakness is the specific trait Kannon says correlated Bellerive-style setups tend to expose.
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