Steve Palmer's Fortinet Championship predictions and free golf betting tips

When to bet 

By 3pm on Thursday

Where to watch the Fortinet Championship

Sky Sports Golf from 11pm on Thursday

Steve Palmer's Fortinet Championship predictions

Sahith Theegala
3pts each-way 18-1 Betfair, Power

Akshay Bhatia
2pts each-way 45-1 Hills

Davis Thompson
1pt each-way 60-1 Betfair, Power

Click to add Steve's selections to your Paddy Power betslip

Max Homa headlines the Fortinet Championship, seeking to complete a hat-trick of Silverado successes, and punters have to assess his levels of focus on the task in hand.

Homa, who spent the weekend in Rome on a scouting trip with eight other members of the American Ryder Cup team, may be distracted by his forthcoming debut in one of the biggest events in sport. The Californian ace loves Silverado, though, and will do for plenty at a general 7-1.

Homa's Ryder Cup colleague, Justin Thomas, is looking to justify his wildcard selection with a positive performance at Silverado. Thomas, badly out of form in recent weeks, is playing under pressure.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Sahith Theegala 18-1

Five of the last seven winners of the Fortinet Championship have been Californian and Sahith Theegala seems perfectly placed to bolster that statistic this week.

Theegala, born in Orange before becoming a college star at Pepperdine in Los Angeles, is ultra-comfortable in Californian conditions, relishing the poa annua greens, and the 25-year-old seems sure to have arrived in the Napa Valley with a spring in his step.

Theegala won a PGA Tour pairs event last year – the QBE Shootout alongside Tom Hoge – and has come close to victory as an individual. Last year, Theegala was second in the Travelers Championship and the RSM Classic, and third in the Phoenix Open. This year, he was fourth at Torrey Pines, sixth at Riviera, ninth on his Masters debut and fifth in the Heritage.

A bounce back to form in the FedEx Cup playoffs – 13th in Memphis followed by 15th at Olympia Fields – sent Theegala into the short close-season with some confidence. And Silverado is a dreamy venue at which to return to action.

Theegala finished 14th on his Silverado debut in 2020, despite being ranked outside the world's top 2,000 at the time. He was sixth in last year's Fortinet and boasts a great record generally in the Golden State.

Next best bet

Akshay Bhatia 45-1

The Barracuda Championship was staged in California at the end of July and it provided the PGA Tour maiden triumph of Akshay Bhatia. A quick follow-up in his home state this week seems entirely feasible.

Bhatia, a cocksure 21-year-old who skipped college to immediately join the professional ranks, got engaged at the weekend. He is walking on air and, like Theegala, proved himself at Silverado when inexperienced and unknown.

Bhatia was also ranked outside the world's top 2,000 when teeing up in the 2020 Fortinet, but he made his first PGA Tour cut and finished ninth. His Silverado return this week should go well.

Other selection

Davis Thompson 60-1

Former world number one amateur Davis Thompson won on the Korn Ferry Tour last year and PGA Tour success seems likely in the future. It nearly came in The American Express in January when Jon Rahm defeated Thompson by a shot in a thrilling duel in California.

Thompson is back in the Golden State this week, having produced some solid late-summer form, and the 24-year-old looks dangerous. He finished ninth on his Silverado debut last season.

Silverado course guide

Course Silverado Resort and Spa (North Course), Napa, California
Prize money $8.4m ($1.440m to the winner)
Length 7,123 yards
Par 72 - four par-fives; ten par-fours; four par-threes
Field 156 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Max Homa (7), Justin Thomas (24), Sahith Theegala (37), Cam Davis (49), Andrew Putnam (58)
Course records - 72 holes 267 Stewart Cink (2020) 18 holes 61 Chesson Hadley (2017), Ricky Barnes (2018)

Course winners taking part Kevin Tway, Cameron Champ, Stewart Cink, Max Homa (twice)

When to bet By 3pm on Thursday

When to watch Sky Sports Golf from 11pm on Thursday

Time difference California is eight hours behind the UK and Ireland

Course type Parkland

Course overview Silverado returned to the Tour schedule in 2014 for the first time since 1980. The course was revised by Johnny Miller in 2010, prior to it hosting the 2015 Frys.com Open, which became the Safeway Open from 2016-2020, then the Fortinet from 2021. Silverado is a resort course, but the fairways are reasonably tight, the rough is fairly thick, and tall trees line the cut and prepared, while the small poa annua greens are full of undulation. All the dancefloors are guarded by heavy bunkering, closely-mown run-off areas or water

Story of last year Max Homa chipped in for birdie at the final hole, then watched long-time leader Danny Willett three-putt from four feet to gift the American a one-shot victory

Weather forecast Sunny and warm throughout, with light to moderate breezes

Type of player suited to the challenge This is a classic tree-lined assignment, where finding the fairways is essential, then accuracy is required to small targets on approach

Key attribute Accuracy

Spotlight insight 

Five of the last seven Silverado champions have been Californian

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