The PGA Tour is headed to Fort Worth, Texas this week! Who has the edge at Colonial? Here are Our 6 Best Bets for the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge.
Brendon Todd OVER Stephan Jaeger
Todd had made 5 straight cuts prior to the PGA Championship where he saw his tournament cut short on Friday. He was coming off an 8th place finish at the Wells Fargo and has some good finishes here at the Charles Schwab.
After missing the cut in 2020, he grabbed an 8th place finish in 2021 and followed that up with an impressive 3rd place finish last year. He faces Jaeger who is coming off a 50th finish at the PGA Championship. However, he has played this event just once, last year, and failed to make the cut.
Justin Rose OVER Russell Henley
Justin Rose has a worst finish of 36th over his last 5 events on Tour. He is fresh off a strong showing at the PGA Championship where he finished tied for 9th.
While he did miss the cut here last year, he has had some seriously strong finishes prior. He was 20th in 2021, 3rd in 2020, and won the event in 2018. Russell Henley was beaten up at the PGA where he shot 7 over and missed the cut.
He has not participated here since 2018 where he finished a modest 58th. We like Rose’s recent form and track record at this event to get us a W here.
Viktor Hovland OVER Sungjae Im
Hovland has made the cut in all 14 events he has started this season. The story at the PGA Championship was a familiar one for Viktor. He was in contention throughout and had opportunities to get his 1st major victory but fell short once again.
He ended in a tie for 2nd which was his best finish since the Players where he finished 3rd. He has been in the Top 25 in both of his Charles Schwab starts in his career. Sungjae had been playing some of the best golf on Tour heading into the PGA Championship.
An opening round of 10 over par put him in a big hole and the 3 over round on Friday sealed his fate of being cut. In 2020, Im did finish with a Top 10 but in his other 2 starts, he failed to make the cut. We like the consistency of Hovland to get the win in this matchup.
Top 40 Finish: Brendon Todd
In 8 of his 11 made cuts this season, Todd has finished inside the Top 40. Here at the Schwab, he has back-to-back Top 10 finishes. He is sitting inside the Top 30 on Tour for total strokes gained.
Around the green is where he does his best work, he is 3rd in strokes gained for that category. His work off the tee has been strong as well. He ranks 12th in driving accuracy, and this will serve him well this weekend.
Top 20 Finish: Jordan Spieth
Jordan battled through a tough 1st two rounds of the PGA where he shot 5 over and narrowly made the cut. He fought hard over the weekend and squeaked out a Top 30 finish.
Prior to that, he had finished inside the Top 20 in 5 of his last 6 events. Here at the Schwab, he has finished in the Top 10 in 4 consecutive starts.
He has yet to win the tournament outright but would not be shocked to see him hoist the trophy this Sunday.
Top 20 Finish: Tony Finau
Tony already has 11 finishes in the Top 25 on the season. 4 of those were Top 10 finishes. He struggled to make the cut last week at the PGA and continued to struggle over the weekend.
He finished a modest 72nd. Finau is a tough pro who bounces back well. In fact, the last time he finished outside the Top 50, he followed it up with an outright win at the Houston Open.
