The inaugural 2026 Austin Championship presented by Compliance Solutions takes place at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas, from November 12-15.
The seventh of eight PGA Tour FedExCup Fall events features a $6 million purse as the first edition of the tournament is staged.
It is the PGA Tour’s first return to Austin since the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, although the new tournament brings a different venue and stroke-play format.
The Fazio Canyons Course will play as a par 72 measuring 7,451 yards, with 120 players competing over 72 holes.
Doug Ghim heads the betting market ahead of Jackson Koivun and last week’s World Wide Technology Championship winner Blades Brown.
Current 2026 Austin Championship Odds
| Player | Betting Odds |
|---|---|
| Doug Ghim | 13.00 |
| Jackson Koivun | 15.00 |
| Blades Brown | 21.00 |
| Andrew Novak | 26.00 |
| Brian Harman | 26.00 |
| Jordan Smith | 26.00 |
Leading 2026 Austin Championship Contenders
Doug Ghim
Doug Ghim is on a sustained run of encouraging results including a tied-sixth finish at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open last time out.
That followed tied 17th at the Baycurrent Classic, outright second at the Bank of Utah Championship and tied 17th at the Biltmore Championship Asheville.
Ghim has now finished inside the top 20 in each of his last six appearances, with tied 19th at the Wyndham Championship and tied 15th at the Rocket Classic preceding his fall performances.
Ghim has averaged 1.869 strokes gained total across his past five tournaments, including 0.762 on approach.
Jackson Koivun
Jackson Koivun finished tied 21st at last week’s World Wide Technology Championship and is a leading contender for victory in Texas.
His strongest fall performance remains tied fifth at the Biltmore Championship Asheville, where a closing weekend of 63 and 65 helped him reach 21-under.
Before that, he finished tied 24th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and tied 29th at the Wyndham Championship.
Koivun has already demonstrated his winning potential this season when he claimed the 3M Open in July and has two top-five and three top-10 finishes across his last 10 appearances.
Blades Brown
Blades Brown secured his breakthrough PGA Tour victory at the World Wide Technology Championship last week.
The 19-year-old closed with a nine-under 63 to finish at 23-under before defeating Benjamin James in a play-off.
That victory followed tied 19th at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open and tied 17th at the Biltmore Championship Asheville.
Seven of his last 10 starts have ended inside the top 20, and he has averaged 0.683 strokes gained off the tee across his past five tournaments.
Andrew Novak
Andrew Novak arrives after winning the VidantaWorld Mexico Open in his latest start with an extraordinary middle two rounds providing the foundation for victory.
The win represented a sharp improvement on tied 44th at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
His preceding results included tied 17th at the Biltmore Championship Asheville and tied seventh at the Wyndham Championship, where he closed with a 63.
The question in Austin is whether he can carry that level forward rather than revert to the inconsistency that included missed cuts at the Rocket Classic and The Open earlier in the summer.
Brian Harman
Brian Harman returns to action for the first time since finishing tied fourth at the Baycurrent Classic on October 11.
That was his second top-five finish in his last 10 appearances, following tied third at the 3M Open at 20-under.
His preceding start before Japan was a tied-30th finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where a final-round 75 undid some of the work of an earlier 64.
Harman brings a strong latest result, but it comes with a longer competitive break than those of Brown, Koivun and Jordan Smith, who all played last week.
Jordan Smith
Jordan Smith completes the featured group after finishing tied eighth at the World Wide Technology Championship.
His closing 63 took him to 18-under, matching Brown’s final-round score and providing an encouraging finish before the move to Texas.
That result continued a productive run for Smith, who finished tied 16th at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open and tied fourth at the Baycurrent Classic before that.
Smith has finished his last two tournaments with scores of 64 and 63 and offers a case built on repeated recent contention rather than a single standout week.
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