PGA Tour makes announcement ahead of Biltmore Championship Asheville
PGA Tour introduces preferred lies for all four rounds after heavy rain and high temperatures cause challenging conditions in North Carolina
The PGA Tour has announced that preferred lies will be in operation for all four rounds of the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville after challenging weather conditions affected preparations for the new event.
Heavy rainfall and high temperatures in Western North Carolina have created difficult agronomic conditions at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, prompting officials to introduce preferred lies for the duration of the tournament.
“Due to heavy rainfall and high temperatures in Western North Carolina creating challenging agronomic conditions during the final phases of tournament preparation, preferred lies will be in effect all four rounds at the Biltmore Championship Asheville,” a PGA Tour communications message read ahead of Thursday's opening round.
The decision will allow players to take relief from poor lies under the tournament's preferred-lies rules, an important consideration given the recent weather and course conditions.
The Biltmore Championship Asheville marks the beginning of the FedEx Cup Fall series, with the new tournament the first of eight events scheduled during the autumn portion of the PGA Tour season.
It has been several weeks since the Tour Championship, but the PGA Tour is back in action in Asheville, North Carolina, with a 132-player field competing for a $5 million prize fund.
The champion will receive $900,000
Jackson Koivun headlines the field and will have an additional reason to impress this week after earning a captain's pick for the United States Presidents Cup team.
The one-time PGA Tour winner will make his Presidents Cup debut next week when the biennial contest gets underway at Medinah in Illinois.
Koivun will begin his Biltmore Championship Asheville campaign at 12:43 p.m. ET on Thursday alongside Jacob Bridgeman and Webb Simpson, with the group starting from the 1st tee.
Scroll down for the first-round tee times...
2026 Biltmore Championship Asheville – Thursday tee times
| Time (ET) | Hole | Players |
|---|---|---|
| 7:20 a.m. | 1 | Lee Hodges, Nick Hardy, Mark Hubbard |
| 7:20 a.m. | 10 | Ryan Brehm, Troy Merritt, Justin Lower |
| 7:31 a.m. | 1 | Emiliano Grillo, Chad Ramey, John Parry |
| 7:31 a.m. | 10 | Nick Dunlap, Henrik Norlander, Zach Bauchou |
| 7:42 a.m. | 1 | Chandler Phillips, Will Gordon, Hank Lebioda |
| 7:42 a.m. | 10 | Ben Kohles, Johnny Keefer, Danny Walker |
| 7:53 a.m. | 1 | William Mouw, Stephan Jaeger, Chris Kirk |
| 7:53 a.m. | 10 | Nico Echavarria, Corey Conners, Ryo Hisatsune |
| 8:04 a.m. | 1 | Karl Vilips, Cam Davis, Taylor Pendrith |
| 8:04 a.m. | 10 | Nick Taylor, Billy Horschel, Blades Brown |
| 8:15 a.m. | 1 | Andrew Novak, Davis Riley, Lucas Glover |
| 8:15 a.m. | 10 | Andrew Putnam, Michael Kim, Dylan Wu |
| 8:26 a.m. | 1 | Tyler Duncan, Brendon Todd, Rasmus Højgaard |
| 8:26 a.m. | 10 | Taylor Moore, Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin |
| 8:37 a.m. | 1 | Matthieu Pavon, Max Greyserman, Kristoffer Ventura |
| 8:37 a.m. | 10 | Rafael Campos, Ben Martin, A.J. Ewart |
| 8:48 a.m. | 1 | Trace Crowe, Keita Nakajima, Chandler Blanchet |
| 8:48 a.m. | 10 | Isaiah Salinda, Christo Lamprecht, Keller Harper |
| 8:59 a.m. | 1 | Jimmy Stanger, Kensei Hirata, Carson Bertagnole (a) |
| 8:59 a.m. | 10 | Alejandro Tosti, Luke Clanton, Spencer Oxendine |
| 9:10 a.m. | 1 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Jeffrey Kang, Austin Duncan |
| 9:10 a.m. | 10 | Jeremy Paul, Marcelo Rozo, Tyler Jones (a) |
| 12:10 p.m. | 1 | Seamus Power, Pierceson Coody, David Skinns |
| 12:10 p.m. | 10 | Adam Svensson, Joel Dahmen, Beau Hossler |
| 12:21 p.m. | 1 | Camilo Villegas, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, David Lipsky |
| 12:21 p.m. | 10 | Brice Garnett, Eric Cole, Zac Blair |
| 12:32 p.m. | 1 | Austin Eckroat, Jonathan Byrd, Jackson Suber |
| 12:32 p.m. | 10 | Luke List, Kevin Streelman, Max McGreevy |
| 12:43 p.m. | 1 | Jackson Koivun, Jacob Bridgeman, Webb Simpson |
| 12:43 p.m. | 10 | Steven Fisk, Adam Schenk, Kevin Yu |
| 12:54 p.m. | 1 | J.T. Poston, Tony Finau, Ben James |
| 12:54 p.m. | 10 | Ricky Castillo, Davis Thompson, Aaron Wise |
| 1:05 p.m. | 1 | Peter Malnati, Rico Hoey, Ben Silverman |
| 1:05 p.m. | 10 | Erik van Rooyen, Denny McCarthy, Kevin Roy |
| 1:16 p.m. | 1 | Patton Kizzire, Tom Hoge, Takumi Kanaya |
| 1:16 p.m. | 10 | Kevin Kisner, Fabián Gómez, Mac Meissner |
| 1:27 p.m. | 1 | Cameron Champ, Lanto Griffin, Doug Ghim |
| 1:27 p.m. | 10 | Vince Whaley, Harry Higgs, Austin Smotherman |
| 1:38 p.m. | 1 | Hayden Springer, Zecheng Dou, Davis Chatfield |
| 1:38 p.m. | 10 | Neal Shipley, John VanDerLaan, Phillip Yribarren |
| 1:49 p.m. | 1 | Jesper Svensson, Gordon Sargent, Pontus Nyholm |
| 1:49 p.m. | 10 | Michael Thompson, Patrick Fishburn, Tyler Watts (a) |
| 2:00 p.m. | 1 | Paul Peterson, David Ford, Morgan Deneen |
| 2:00 p.m. | 10 | Haotong Li, Marco Penge, Brendan Valdes |
Andy Roberts first joined GolfMagic on a month's work experience back in April 2011.
Andy then assumed the role of GolfMagic Editor in 2015.
