2020 Charles Schwab Challenge Course and Tournament Preview
June 11 – June 14
Colonial Country Club | Fort Worth, TX
Par 70 – 7,209 Yards
Defending: Kevin Na (-13)
After a 3-month layoff, the PGA Tour is back for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club (Fort Worth, TX). Some players will look rusty coming off the paused season but tough to gauge the impact there. Instead, maybe expand the “current form” period to include last year or emphasize course history and course fit above other stats. Kevin Na is the defending champ after leading the field in Shots Gained: Approach, and 2nd in SG: Putting (Jordan Spieth 1st) last year. He’s in the field again this week and will garner some attention in the betting and DFS world. We’ll get into the course preview below and you can find our DFS Lineup and Betting Analysis updates throughout the week.
The first tournament back gives us a stacked field (sorry, no Tiger) led by Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. Colonial is a par-70 course with two par-5’s, four par-3’s and twelve par 4’s that reward accuracy over distance on the tight fairways and bunkered, bentgrass greens. With most major sports still on hold there should be some extra buzz around golf this week as gamblers and fans welcome any type of live sporting event onto their TV’s. Others in the long list of a great field include Webb Simpson, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Sungjae Im, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, Tony Finau, Jason Day, and Jordan Spieth.
Colonial Country Club | Fort Worth, TX
Par 70 – 7,209 Yards | Bentgrass Greens
The Course
Par 3’s: 247, 199, 190, 192
Par 4’s: 389, 483, 481, 406, 440, 407, 408, 445, 464, 430, 387, 441
Par 5’s: 565, 635
The 7,200+ yard, par-70 Colonial doesn’t require you to be a long hitter as on display by some of the recent winners and runners-up below (Na, Rose, Kisner, Snedeker, Kuchar, etc.). Past winners have shown that accuracy off the tee and into the greens plus a hot putter can get you to the top of the leaderboard.
Golfers will take the most attempts from 150-175 yards and next most from 175-200 yards, making approach and scoring stats from those distances key. Along with this are the three par-3’s around 190 yards that bring 175-200 yard par-3 scoring into the picture. The seven par-4’s in the 400-450 yard range require a look at par-4 scoring from 400-450 yards.
Managing this course is big and angles into the green can make all the difference. Accuracy off the tee is important while shots gained on approach will boost players to the top of the leaderboard.
Scoring Holes: Colonial kicks things off with the easiest hole on the course, a 565-yard par-5 with a scoring average of 4.641 in 2019. The 11th hole is another par-5 at 635 yards that played as the second easiest last year at 4.883. But with only two par-5’s, players are going to have to find some birdies elsewhere, highlighting the importance of SG:Approach this week. Holes #2 (389-yard par-4), #6 (406-yard par-4), and #7 (440-yard par-4), and #18 (441-yard par-4) all played under par last year while #16 (192-yard par-3) played just over par at 3.021 as the easiest of the four par-3’s in 2019 (it has played tougher in past years).
Problem Holes: The “Horrible Horseshoe” is a three hole (#3-5) stretch that can give players trouble early in their rounds. It kicks off with hole #3 (484-yard par-4), a long par-4 averaging +.227 strokes over par last year and is followed by another long hole #4 (247-yard par-3), where players are happy to land anywhere on the green. The final hole of the Horseshoe is infamous #5 (481-yard par-4) known as the most difficult hole on the course (and in golf) proved by its scoring average of 4.276 last year. The shorter #9 (407-yard par-4) played almost as hard (4.275) as players have to hit over a pond onto a tricky green.
Here are some of the best shots from the tournament that’s been around since 1946.
Past Winners at the Charles Schwab Challenge
2019 – Kevin Na (-13) def. Tony Finau (-9)
2018 – Justin Rose (-20) def. Brooks Koepka (-17)
2017 – Kevin Kisner (-10) def. Sean O’Hair, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth (-9)
2016 – Jordan Spieth (-17) def. Harris English (-14)
2015 – Chris Kirk (-12) def. Jason Bohn, Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Spieth (-11)
2014 – Adam Scott (-9) def. Jason Dufner (-9) (Playoff)
2013 – Boo Weekley (-14) def. Matt Kuchar (-13)
2012 – Zach Johnson (-12) def. Jason Dufner (-11)
2011 – David Toms (-15) def. Charlie Wi (-14)
2010 – Zach Johnson (-21 – Record) def. Brian Davis (-18)
Winner Odds
Rory +750
Jon Rahm +1200
JT +1600
Bryson; Webb Simpson +2200
DJ +2500
Koepka; Reed, Rickie, Sungjae, Xander +2800
Golf Bets and DFS Picks to Follow