2026 Truist Championship DFS picks, odds: Rory McIlroy favored ahead of a strong field

Rory McIlroy returns to the PGA Tour for the first time after winning the Masters. He is the favorite to win the Truist Championship. Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images Share articleThe PGA Tour heads back to the Carolinas for the sixth of eight signature events on the 2026 PGA Tour season for the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. While the tournament has held many names, the golf course has been a consistent test for the best in the world. Quail Hollow Club was the host of the 2025 PGA Championship, where world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler won his first PGA Championship in a bit of a runaway on the weekend. Sepp Straka is the defending champion of the Truist Championship after winning at Philadelphia Cricket Club in 2025. Scottie Scheffler is skipping this week, but we will see the return of Rory McIlroy, who has won at Quail Hollow Club four times during his illustrious career. McIlroy has been resting since winning his second Masters green jacket in a row. The field will also include Matt Fitzpatrick, who is attempting to win his third tournament in a row after capturing the RBC Heritage and the Zurich Classic in his last two starts. Cameron Young is the other top dog in the field, coming off a dominant win at the Cadillac Championship, where he had every part of his game dialed in except on the par 5s. Quail Hollow Club is the perfect fit for the world’s best to test their game as they head into a major championship next week. Three of the world’s best, Young, McIlroy and Fitzpatrick seem to be peaking at the right time. You add in Si Woo Kim, Xander Schauffele, and Ludvig Åberg, who have been top 10 machines, and you have a very competitive field. The players will welcome a very major-like challenge, where they will be tested throughout their entire bag. The three closing holes that make up the green mile will be the hardest closing three holes outside of a major that they will face all year. Quail Hollow Club is fresh off a major championship, and the setup will be very similar, except some holes will be shortened a bit. The par 4s are long and difficult, with large greens that demand accurate iron play to have a chance to make par breakers. The three par-5s and the short par-4 eighth and 14th are where the players can get this golf course, but they must protect their scores on the difficult first six holes and on the difficult closing stretch. Driving distance is a big factor this week, as is proximity to the hole on approach. Putting inside of 10 feet will factor into my model, as well as previous performance at the Quail Hollow Club. Course: Quail Hollow Club Location: Charlotte, N.C. Designer: George Cobb, updated by Tom Fazio Par: 71 Length: 7,569 yards Average green size: 6,600 sq. feet Cameron Young (+950) was in my betting slip last week at +1600, but had slipped to +1100 by the time the article posted, which became a little too short to back on a golf course that hadn’t been in the rotation for almost 10 years. I live with the regret of not talking him up more and not playing him in one-and-dones, but I can’t ignore him this week with the form he is in. He has gained over 3 strokes off the tee in four out of his last five tournaments and was the only one who seemed to know how to putt at Doral. Si Woo Kim (+2500) finished T4 at the Cadillac Championship while almost losing 4 strokes on the greens. He gained strokes on approach in every round at Doral and has been locked in all year. He is not as long as the top players off the tee, but has been very good with his accuracy. He will need to figure out his putting to contend this week, but I can’t ignore his approach play and results at this price. Rickie Fowler (+3500) has three straight top 10 finishes in signature events and has played his way into the PGA Championship field. He is driving it well, gaining strokes off the tee in five of his last seven tournaments, and he has gained over 3 strokes on approach in two straight tournaments. He won here in 2012 in a playoff over McIlroy and D.A. Points. Sepp Straka (+4500) is technically the defending champion of the Truist Championship, even though he won at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. He has been stalking the leaderboard for a while. He was in contention at the RBC Heritage before having a tough Sunday, and then followed that up with a great weekend at the Cadillac Championship, where he stormed up the leaderboard, finishing T4. He has three top-eight finishes in his last eight tournaments, and he has gained over 1.4 strokes on approach in three straight tournaments. Rory McIlroy ($11,700) makes his return to the PGA Tour after winning the Masters on a golf course he has enjoyed over the years. His record at Quail Hollow Club looks a lot like Tiger Woods-type dominance at his favorite career stops on the PGA Tour. He has gained over 3 strokes off the tee in three straight tournaments. His price is way too low to ignore this week. We are used to the top player being close to $14,000 in these contests. Cameron Young ($10,100) See above. Xander Schauffele ($10,000) finished second here in 2023 and 2024. He has four top-nine finishes in his last six tournaments. He has gained strokes off the tee and on approach in four straight tournaments. The putter is the only thing holding him back from breaking through at this point. He just hasn’t been nearly as good as he has been over his career this season. The great majority of lineups will have some combination of two of the three highest-priced players this week. Does that mean we should use game theory in single-entry events to leverage against that? Ludvig Åberg ($9,600) has four top-five finishes in his last five events. He has gained over 2.2 strokes off the tee in four of his last five events. He has gained over 9 strokes combined on approach over his last two events and has had his best season on the PGA Tour around the greens. The weekend letdowns have kept him from winning up until now. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, but I won’t hold that against him. Rickie Fowler ($9,000) See above. Adam Scott ($8,900) looked to be in big trouble on Thursday when he incurred a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball from the rough, but stormed back on the weekend to finish T4. He is driving it great and has been flawless on approach. His putter has been a big problem, but it looks like he figured that out on the weekend at Doral. You should look into his future numbers at the remaining major championships this week with his ball-striking form. Sepp Straka ($8,100) See above. J.J. Spaun ($7,900) finished T37 at the 2025 PGA Championship here and has two top-27 finishes at the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club. He has gained more than 2.4 strokes on approach in four of his last five tournaments. The putter has been cold since his win at the Valero Texas Open. Kurt Kitayama ($7,800) has two straight top-nine finishes in signature events at very different golf courses. He gained over seven strokes combined off the tee and on approach at the Cadillac Championship and bounced back on the greens after struggling on Thursday. Alex Smalley ($7,500) is in excellent form and has been burning the edge of the holes when he is in position to vault up the leaderboards. He has gained over 12 strokes on approach combined over his last three measured events. He finished T18 the last time he teed it up at Quail Hollow Club for the Truist Championship, gaining over 4.2 strokes on approach for the week. Alex Noren ($7,400) finished T17 at the PGA Championship here last year. He is coming off a nice week where he finished T7 at the Cadillac Championship. He has gained over 2.4 strokes on approach in three straight tournaments. Sam Stevens ($7,200) made the cut at the PGA Championship here in 2025. He played here in 2023 and struggled on the greens, but he is having a really nice year on the PGA Tour. He finished T18 last week, gaining over 2.7 strokes off the tee at the Cadillac Championship. Matt McCarty ($7,000) has three straight top 12 finishes, and he gained over 5.6 strokes on approach last week. He hasn’t teed it up at the Truist Championship before, but he did miss the cut at the 2025 PGA Championship. Kristoffer Reitan ($6,900) was the last man in the field at the Cadillac Championship and made the most of his opportunity. His water ball on 18 almost cost him his place in the field this week, but he did just enough to try to keep the ball rolling. He has gained over 1.2 strokes off the tee in his last three measured events. Pierceson Coody ($6,900) missed the cut here in 2023 and has had a start-stop type of season in 2026. His game is built for a golf course like this. He is long off the tee and can be accurate with irons. He needs to get more consistent around the greens and on them, but I will sprinkle him in some lineups this week with his upside. Alex Fitpatrick ($6,800) didn’t skip a beat last week at the Cadillac Championship. His fairytale-like season is something we will remember for a long time. Winning on the DP World Tour for the first time and then won with his brother at the Zurich Classic to gain his PGA Tour card. He followed up that magical run with a fantastic T9 at the Cadillac Championship, where he gained over 7 strokes combined off the tee and on approach. Aldrich Potgieter ($6,700) followed up his surprising T25 at the RBC Heritage with a tidy T14 at the Cadillac Championship. He is doing it with his off-the-tee game and a hot putter, but I really like that he gained over 2.5 strokes on approach last week. Ryan Fox ($6,600) has two straight top 30 finishes in signature events while gaining strokes off the tee and on approach. He was in contention for some time at the PGA Championship here in 2025. Rough week at the Cadillac Championship for Hideki Matsuyama and for my one-and-done teams. I took Adam Scott in one, and his big weekend helped that team climb into contention. The choices are tough when it comes to saving McIlroy or Young for one of the three major championships coming up or burning one now with $3.6 million on the line for the winner. Schauffele has finished second at the Truist Championship at this course in 2023 and 2024 while gaining strokes across the board. He will be very popular this week for good reason. As of right now, I’m taking Schauffele, but could flip to Åberg in some of my one-and-dones, hoping to get him low-owned. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms