CHARLES SCHWAB CHALLENGE
Purse: $9.9M
Winner's Share: $1.782M
FedEx Cup Points: 500 to the Winner
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Course: Colonial Country Club
Yardage: 7,289
Par: 70
2025 champion: Ben Griffin
Tournament Preview
When golf fans think of the iconic courses on the PGA Tour, there's Augusta National, there's Pebble Beach, there's Riviera, to name a few. Colonial doesn't immediately come to mind. But the venerable club forever associated with the great Ben Hogan holds a special place in the Tour's history.
This is the 80th anniversary of the Charles Schwab Challenge nee Colonial National Invitational (and many other names along the way). The tournament has been contested at Colonial since the inaugural 1946 event, making this the longest association between the Tour and a course outside of Augusta. It has been played there every year but two -- 1949 because of incredible flooding (really!) and 1975, when it played host to THE PLAYERS Championship. Heck, it was even played in 2020, as the first tournament back from the global pandemic.
Colonial is the only course to play host to a U.S. Open (1941), THE PLAYERS (1975) and a regular Tour event. The 1991 U.S. Women's Open was also played there. Hogan won the first two editions at Colonial, and five in all, and to this day the course carries the nickname "Hogan's Alley."
The track is on the short side, which is why Annika Sorenstam famously chose Colonial back in 2003 for her one and only venture onto the PGA Tour. But make no mistake, this is no pushover birdie-fest. Ben Griffin won last year at 12-under. It was fifth hardest course when Davis Riley won at 14-under in 2024, and the two previous years the winner was in single digits.
Colonial features the three-hole Horrible Horseshoe, a cutesy little nickname that sounds more like a character in children's book than one of the most treacherous stretches on Tour. Unlike at other courses that have rugged three-hole sequences that can decide a tournament, it's a bit of a letdown that this one comes so early in the round. Still, Nos. 3-5 are brutal, with two par-4s of about 475 yards sandwiching a nearly 250-yard par-3. No. 5 is annually among the hardest holes on the entire Tour, and last year there were 30 double bogeys and five triples or worse.
Back to the course in a minute, but we wanted to get to the field, which is clearly better than last week at the Byron Nelson, even though there is another Signature Event coming next week at the Memorial.
Ludvig Aberg, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler are the headliners in the field of 132. Brooks Koepka was originally in the field but pulled out. Other names of note include Griffin, Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama, J.J. Spaun, Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre, Keegan Bradley and Max Homa, and we'll even give a shoutout to Alex Smalley and Matti Schmid for leading a major for a little bit on a Sunday two weeks ago at the PGA.
The Charles Schwab has some unconventional ways of filling out its field. The tournament invites members of the most recent Ryder and Presidents Cup teams. And it has two spots reserved for what they call the Champion's Choice invitation. Each year, former Colonial champions pick two young players they deem deserving. A 16-year-old Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Paul Azinger and Davis Love III were such invitees. This year, those two are 22-year-old Nick Dunlap, kind of an odd choice since he's already well established on Tour, and 18-year-old Georgia high school senior Mason Howell, who won the 2025 U.S. Amateur and played in the 2025 U.S. Open and 2026 Masters (both MC).
There are also a boatload of sponsor invites -- 10 of them, in fact.
Okay, back to Colonial. There was a 2023 restoration by Gil Hanse and his team. Most of the changes have not been visible to casual golf fans, such as the installation of a new cooling and drainage system under the greens.
The biggest changes came at the three of the four par-3s, Nos. 8, 13 and 16, where greens were shifted and moved slightly. Throughout the course, some elevated greens were lowered and barrancas are now more prominently snaking through the course. A lot of bunkers were removed.
But all in all Colonial is still Colonial. For a course built in 1936 by John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell, who couldn't possibly fathom how far today's golfers would hit the ball, it still does a great job choking off the long hitters with narrow fairways, trees, dog legs and 60-something bunkers. The greens are bentgrass and small, averaging 5,000 square feet.
There are only two par-5s on the par-70 track, including the must-birdie opening hole at 581 yards. The other is the mammoth 639-yard 11th. Aside from the Horrible Horseshoe, there are only two par-4s over 450 yards. There are five under 415 yards.
Finally, history has shown that experience matters more at Colonial than just about any other course on Tour.
As for the weather, it will be very hot, at least for the first three days, with temperatures near or above 90. There's a chance of rain every day but not much. The wind will be light to moderate.
Key Stats to Winning at Colonial
The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.
• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee/Driving Accuracy
• Strokes Gained: Approach/Greens in Regulation
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Par-4 Scoring, 450-500 yards
• Bogey Avoidance
Past Champions
2025 - Ben Griffin
2024 - Davis Riley
2023 - Emiliano Grillo
2022 - Sam Burns
2021 - Jason Kokrak
2020 - Daniel Berger
2019 - Kevin Na
2018 - Justin Rose
2017 - Kevin Kisner
2016 - Jordan Spieth
Champion's Profile
This is one of the lesser tournaments in the grand scheme of things, so it's natural to think the course is easy. It is not.
Griffin won at 12-under last year and, while Riley won at 14-under two years ago, he was five clear of the runner-up. In fact, only four players better 5-under in 2024.
Griffin ranked 16th in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee, 31st in approach, 11th in Around-the-Green and third in Putting. He also ranked 13th in greens in regulation. It all adds up to a well-balanced game. Runner-up Matt Schmid led the field in SG: Putting and third-place finisher Bud Cauley ranked ninth. So, putting matters this week, though not so much to make birdies as to save pars.
Riley ranked sixth in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee, second in Approach, 39th in Around-the-Green and fourth in Putting. He also was third in greens in regulation.
Scheffler and Keegan Bradley shared second place. If it's not hard enough to believe that Riley beat Scheffler by five shots, it becomes harder when seeing Scheffler's stats: seventh in Off-the-Tee, 18th in Approach, 12th in Around-the-Green and 16th in Putting. Not bad at all. Granted, that came a week after Scheffler's arrest at the PGA Championship, and we can't discount that his head was perhaps still a bit off (though he did win the Memorial the following week).
Bradley stats: first Off-the-Tee, 54th Approach, 13th Around-the-Green, ninth Putting.
Experience matters at Colonial. With the importance of placing the ball in the right spots, the more a golfer has played Colonial, the better he'll be prepared.
Golfodds.com put the over/under on the winning score at 266.5 -- 13.5 under par.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
$10,000 and up
Russell Henley - $10,200 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +2000)
Henley is a golfer we like to turn to when a cautious approach is preferred. To wit, he is ranked fourth on Tour in bogey avoidance. Henley delivered at a couple of hard courses earlier this season, tying for sixth at Bay Hill and for third at Augusta. He's played Colonial only twice, but he tied for 16th last time in 2023.
$9,000-$9,900
Rickie Fowler - $9,600 (+2400)
Fowler finished top-10 in three straight Signature Events before merely making the cut at the PGA. His stats illustrate a solid player across the board, as he's ranked in the top-50 in SG: Off-the-Tee, Approach, Tee-to-Green and Putting, and sixth in bogey avoidance. Fowler has had some good results in his 12 tries here through the years, including T6 three years ago and T16 last year.
J.J. Spaun - $9,200 (+3200)
Spaun's approach play continues to be elite -- he's ranked eighth on Tour -- to the point that we think it will overcome his woeful putting. He's also ranked 20th in driving accuracy. Spaun tied for sixth here last year, just weeks before winning the U.S. Open.
Alex Smalley - $9,100 (+3500)
Smalley was amid a very good season even before nearly winning the PGA Championship. He has eight top-25s and three top-10s. When you're ranked top-25 on Tour in both SG: Approach and Putting, and top-30 in bogey avoidance, good things tend to happen.
$8,000-$8.900
Gary Woodland - $8,400 (+4200)
Woodland tied for 11th here last year, and he also has a prior top-10. That tracks for someone as good a driver as he is, ranked 11th on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee. But he's also a decent putter, ranked 54th. The surprise winner of the Houston Open kept it going after that milestone moment, with a top-10 at Harbour Town and a top-20 at Quail Hollow.
Bud Cauley - $8,100 (+4900)
Cauley is showing that last year's renaissance season was no fluke. He's playing pretty well this season with four top-25s, and he just missed another last time out with a T26 at the PGA Championship. Cauley is a top-50 golfer in bogey avoidance, and he's top-30 in SG: Tee-to-Green. He tied for third here a year ago.
$7,000-$7,900
Tony Finau - $7,700 (+6700)
We wrote in our weekly recap of the Byron Nelson that it's too soon to know whether Finau's tie for sixth was on account of a very weak field or that his game is turning a corner. Of course, it could be both. Or just a one-week aberration. But the thinking here is, he simply is not as bad as he had been playing. His approach play in now almost ranked inside the top-100, and his putting is inside. Finau has played great at Colonial through the years, with a runner-up, another top-5 and four other top-25s.
Sam Stevens - $7,600 (+5300)
Stevens has made 14-of-15 cuts this season with six to-25s, including at the Masters. His stats don't scream out at you -- they're not bad, just not great, and he is ranked around 50th in SG: Te-to-Green -- but he somehow seems to get it done. He's played here three times and finished in the top-30 twice
Michael Kim - $7,300 (+8800)
Kim has made the cut in 6 of his past 7 starts, and he had top-25s at two recent Signature Events. He's decent on approach but really an elite putter. Kim tied for 16th here last year and for sixth three years ago.
$6,000-$6,900
Lucas Glover - $6,700 (+18500)
Glover has not had a good season. He's had a couple of good results -- top-25s at Bay Hill and Doral, both tough courses. And he has played exceedingly well at Colonial through the years. He's played this tournament 18 times. He tied for 22nd last year, 12th the year before and has made five straight cuts here.
David Lipsky - $6,500 (+27000)
Lipsky would be in the FedExCup Playoffs if they started today -- not too many $6500 guys can say that. Of course, that's in large part because of one tournament -- a runner-up at the Valspar. But he also recently notched a top-25 at the Truist Signature Event. Lipsky is ranked in the top-100 in SG: Approach and top-60 in Putting. He has made the cut 3 of 4 years at Colonial with a top-10 and a top-25.
Checking out options for the Charles Schwab Challenge? See how they look in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.
