Charles Schwab Challenge
Course: Colonial Country Club (7,289 yards, par 70)
Purse: $9,900,000
Winner: $1,782,000 and 500 FedExCup Points
Tournament Preview
The PGA Tour heads from North Dallas to Fort Worth for the 80th edition of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Colonial Country Club is one of the most historic venues in the country and it has been a part of this great event from the start. Ben Hogan is synonomous with this tournament having won it a record five times. No other player has won it more than twice, but there is a whopping 11 men stuck on that number. The last of which to join was Zach Johnson following his win in 2012 after winning previously in 2010.
One who could join that contingent is Ben Griffin who picked up his first individual PGA Tour last year at Colonial with a great final round to outlast a host of challengers, including Scottie Scheffler. Speaking of World No. 1, this will be the first time he has skipped this event. Fellow Dallas native, Jordan Spieth, is also skipping this event for the first time in his career. It brings up a larger issue of the jam-packed schedule in this part of the year that has seen two Signature events, a major and then another Signature event next week at The Memorial. It's a tough stretch for the Texans who also want to play their hometown events like last week at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson and this week, but also need to play in the Signature Events and be fresh for the majors.
Nevertheless, this is the schedule we have this year and players need to make the best decisions for themselves. Minus a few high profile players that normally play Colonial, it's still a pretty solid field all things considered for a regular event. Seven of the Top 20 in the OWGR will tee it up led by No. 9 J.J. Spaun. No. 13 Ludvig Aberg is the clear betting favorite around 10-1 at most sportsbooks. Aberg has played so well this year, but it still looking for his first win since early 2025. Justin Thomas, Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Robert Macintyre and Akshay Bhatia highlight some of the other notables in Fort Worth this week.
While TPC Craig Ranch has been an absolute birdie barrage, Colonial has been able to stand the test of time and continue to be a challenge for the top players in the world. Colonial has had an average winning score of 11.4-under-par over the last five years, as opposed to Craig Ranch which in the same span sits at over 25-under. Gil Hanse did a complete restoration of Colonial prior to the 2024 edition of the tournament, which brought in some of the natural hazards and gave the course a more rugged look as it was originally designed. Scoring should be better this year, as very little wind is expected and the greens should be receptive from rains throughout the week.
Recent Champions
2025 - Ben Griffin (-12)
2024 - Davis Riley (-14)
2023 - Emiliano Grillo (-8)
2022 - Sam Burns (-9)
2021 - Jason Kokrak (-14)
2020 - Daniel Berger (-15)
2019 - Kevin Na (-13)
2018 - Justin Rose (-20)
2017 - Kevin Kisner (-10)
2016 - Jordan Spieth (-17)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Putting/Putts per GIR
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
- Par 4 Scoring/Bogey Avoidance
Champion's Profile
Colonial has historically not been a course that players can overpower, which has led to a lot of longshot winners over the years. This is a positional golf course that calls on proper shotmaking to find success. Colonial has the sixth-narrowest fairways and the fifth-smallest greens on the PGA Tour. You can get away with spraying it around at this course off the tee, but you need to make sure you miss it in the right spot around these greens.
For much as a ball-striking test that Colonial seems like it should be, I did find it interesting how important short game and putting has been since the restoration. Ben Griffin ranked third in SG: Putting for the week last year en route to winning, while second-place finisher Matti Schmid led the field in SG: Putting. Third-place finisher Bud Cauley also led the field in scrambling. The best sign of a great course, however, is that there are different ways to get it done. In 2024, tournament winner Davis Riley ranked second in SG: Approach, while T2 finisher Keegan Bradley led the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and was T2 in driving accuracy for the week.
The par-5s and par-3s on this course are quite difficult, so the bulk of the scoring is going to be coming on par-4s. That will be a big stat to focus on along with bogey avoidance on this tricky golf course. Players who rank high in proximity in the 100-150-yard range also deserve a boost, as Colonial is a course where players will have a lot of wedges and short irons.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Ludvig Aberg ($12,600)
Aberg is playing the best golf of anyone in this field right now and he rightfully sits on top of the salary board. This is likely to be the only time the rest of the season in which Aberg will be a clear favorite like this in an event. The Swede has finished top 10 in six of his last seven events. The putter has been a little concern as of late, but the numbers on the season are still quite solid at 59th in SG: Putting and 13th in putts per GIR. Everything else has been elite, however, as Aberg ranks top 20 in SG: Off-the-Tee, total driving, SG: Approach, GIR percentage, proximity and SG: Around-the-Green.
Russell Henley ($11,800)
Henley isn't playing quite as well of late as Aberg, but he might be a better course fit for Colonial. Henley leads the PGA Tour in driving accuracy and has historically been a great iron player. He led the field by a wide margin in SG: Approach back at The Masters. Henley also leads the Tour in scrambling, which should be important on a tough track likely Colonial with small greens. He's only played here twice, but was T16 in his most recent start at this event.
Rickie Fowler ($11,400)
There's a lot to like about Fowler this week. He comes in with top-10 finishes in three of his last four starts during a stretch of some incredibly strong iron play. Fowler should be primed for this type of test at seventh in par-4 scoring, sixth in bogey avoidance and second in bounce back. He is also 10th in scrambling and 20th in SG: Putting. Fowler has quality history at Colonial as well with five finishes of T16 or better.
The Middle Tier
Alex Smalley ($10,400)
I actually thought Smalley would be a little higher than this. He has been playing some extremely strong golf and has zero weaknesses in his game. Smalley has gone T21-T14-T2-T7-T17-T2 in his last six starts. He ranks inside the Top 55 in every strokes gained category and is 16th in GIR percentage, 12th in proximity and 11th in par-4 scoring. Course history isn't there, but Smalley has also never played this kind of golf in his career.
Sungjae Im ($9,900)
Im is coming off a T9 at Craig Ranch -- his second top-10 finish in his last three starts. The putter has been spiking along with the short game. Im now ranks ninth in SG: Around-the-Green and 39th in SG: Putting on the season. The iron play has been an area of concern, but Im continues to drive the ball very well. Colonial is a place where he has found success with three top-15s in his last five starts. It also is comparable to Innisbrook in which Im held the 54-hole lead a couple months ago before falling to T4.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($9,500)
Bezuidenhout popped in the models I created this week, which emphasized short game and putting. The South African ranks 32nd in SG: Around, 18th in scrambling, sixth in SG: Putting and 10th in putts per GIR. He is also 13th in proximity from 50-125 yards, which has been a key range for a number of the champions here over the years. Bezuidenhout has gone T15-T21-T17-T16 the last four years at Colonial.
The Long Shots
Zach Bauchou ($8,600)
I was on Bauchou prior to the Byron Nelson and was happy to see it work out well with a great showing. The T6 was his sixth top-25 finish of the season, and third consecutively. The iron play-short game-putting combination is pretty solid and that's why he came in pretty high in my model this week compared to a lot of other players in this range. Bauchou is top-60 in SG: Approach, GIR percentage, SG: Around, scrambling and putts per GIR.
Jackson Suber ($7,800)
If you're a believer in iron play being the biggest key this week, Suber is your guy. He ranks inside the top 15 on the PGA Tour in SG: Approach, GIR percentage and proximity. Suber finished solo fourth last week at Craig Ranch behind gaining the third-most strokes on approach. The 26-year-old finished T19 in his previous start at Myrtle Beach where he gained strokes on the greens as well, just like he did last year at Colonial.
A.J. Ewart ($7,800)
Ewart finished T19 last week to run his total for the year up to seven top-30 finishes. That's pretty impressive for a player in the $7K range this week. On first glance the stats aren't all that great, but he ranks highly in a number of key ones for Colonial. Ewart is top 35 on Tour in par-4 scoring, bogey avoidance, GIR percentage, proximity, scrambling and SG: Putting. I was on the Canadian last week and will be running it back this week in what should be very similar weather conditions.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
There's a few contingent of players I'd shy away from this week. Justin Thomas ($11,600) I think will be pretty popular after his great finish at the PGA Championship, but he is outside the top 125 this year in GIR percentage, proximity and scrambling. Robert MacIntyre ($11,300) is struggling having gone MC-T42-T60-MC in his last four starts. The iron play has been horrible over that stretch. Keegan Bradley ($10,600) I also think is a little too pricey with a lot better options right around him. Some additional options not mentioned above who I will be considering in lineups this week are Ryo Hisatsune ($10,000), Mac Meissner ($9,700), Matt McCarty ($9,300) and Eric Cole ($8,300).
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