The Lone Star state welcomes the PGA Tour for a final time this season with the field headed to Fort Worth for the annual Charles Schwab Challenge. He didn’t win the PGA Championship last week but world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler earned his 10th top 10 in 11 starts this season and is the prohibitive betting favorite with the shortest outright odds I’ve ever seen. Xander Schauffele is taking a week off after his first major championship, which is understandable. However, the field is loaded with some of the game’s top players who are packed together on the odds board after Scheffler. Emiliano Grillo is back to defend the title he won in a playoff last year, but oddsmakers aren’t giving him much of a chance to become the first repeat winner since the 1950s. Grillo has long odds of around 150/1 on the opening line. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Charles Schwab Challenge Betting Odds
Scottie Scheffler +290
Collin Morikawa +1315
Jordan Spieth +2250
Max Homa +2250
Harris English +3350
Tony Finau +3350
Si Woo Kim +3750
Sungjae Im +3850
Brian Harman +4050
Min Woo Lee +4050
Tom Kim +4050
Tom Hoge +4550
Austin Eckroat +4550
Sepp Straka +4750
Denny McCarthy +5050
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +5050
Keegan Bradley +5050
Taylor Moore +5450
Billy Horschel +6050
Chris Kirk +6050
Maverick Mcnealy +6050
Andrew Putnam +6050
Lucas Glover +6050
Adam Scott +6050
Keith Mitchell +6050
Akshay Bhatia +7050
Thomas Detry +7050
Aaron Rai +7050
Justin Rose +7050
Odds Analysis
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +5050
I’m dismissing his MC at the PGA Championship simply because Bezuidenhout had been consistently good over the last few months. He made the cut in seven straight events earning a podium last month at the DP World Tour’s ISPS Handa Championship. He also had a T9 at the Valspar in that run. The South African knows how to win collecting multiple titles on the European circuit, and he’s seemingly gotten more comfortable on the PGA side as the starts pile up. He also has a good handle on the Colonial layout finishing T15-T21 in his last two starts.
Austin Eckroat +4550
You have to think the betting markets aren’t far behind with Eckroat flashing signs of brilliant play. He just hasn’t done it consistently enough to be considered among the elite in any field, though he’s been looked at more closely after winning the Cognizant Classic in March. With three top 20s in his last four starts he enters on a run of solid form and he has to feel confident about his T18 at Valhalla when he carded four rounds of 70 or lower.
Tony Finau +3350
With a score to settle at Colonial and a run of solid form in his pocket, I’m backing Finau to make a run at the top of leaderboard. Last year for the first time in eight starts Finau missed the cut in this tournament ending a run of two top 5s and three top 20s in his previous four appearances. Strong iron play is required at Colonial and as usual Finau has been sharp leading to a T18 at Valhalla and a T2 at the Texas Open in March. He has three top 20s in his last five starts and six for the season.
Lee Hodges +8050
You have to think outside the box to have an impact at the betting window and backing Hodges is a move that’s out there. Recent form isn’t always a sign of what’s to come but it’s one of the few measurements we have on players. Taking Hodges’ price and what he accomplished recently brings it all together. He recorded his highest finish in a major finishing T12 last week, which came after a T24 at the Wells Fargo Championship. He’s also 2 for 2 at the Schwab, so what the heck.
Jordan Spieth +2250
The Texan has a history at this tournament, which is partly why he’s included in this section. It’s been a struggle for Spieth since his DQ at the Genesis in February with only one finish inside the top 25 and four MCs in nine starts since. A closing 73 at Valhalla made his finish look worse than it was and he has shown improvement with his flat stick. Back home at a tournament he won once, finished second in three times while salvaging an additional four top 10s has me confident Spieth can get back in the saddle.
Course: Colonial Country Club – 7,289 yards, Par 70
Colonial is the longest running host layout of any non-major event, so there is plenty of history. However, that history will play out on a much different track this year. The property underwent a massive overhaul that started when the final putt dropped in last year’s tournament. Every hole was tampered with in some way with an additional 80 yards added to the scorecard while still playing at par 70. With numerous bunkers removed, elevated greens being lowered and narrow fairways cleared, the course could play easier than the 70.73 scoring average it yielded last year when it was the hardest par 70 in a non-major in over two decades.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel, CBS
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