Charles Schwab Challenge: Best Bets, Daily Fantasy Golf Picks, Course Key Stats, and Win Simulations

A grueling major test at Oak Hill last week for the PGA Championship could have some lingering effects on a portion of the field that teed it up last week.

This week, the PGA Tour is back to a familiar course: Colonial Country Club.

Three of the world's top 10 and 10 of the top 25 are in the field for this week in Fort Worth, Texas.

You can jump ahead to any specific section of the piece you would like.

Course Information and Key Stats
Golfers With Great Course History
Win Simulations
Best Bets
Daily Fantasy Picks

Colonial Country Club Course Info & Key Stats

Par: 70
Distance: 7,209 (average)
Fairway Width: 27.7 yards (tight; 7th of 80)
Average Green Size: 5,000 square feet (small; PGA average: ~6,000)
Green Type: Bentgrass
Stimpmeter: 12-13
Recent Winning Scores: -9, -14, -15, -13, -20
Recent Cut Lines: +1, +1, -2, +2, +2
Key Stats (in Order of Importance): Strokes Gained: Approach, Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (emphasis on Driving Accuracy), Strokes Gained: Putting, Total Strokes Gained, Birdie or Better Rate

It's a pretty short overall course this week at Colonial, but it's headlined by tight fairways, the seventh-narrowest of any on the PGA Tour. Until last year, winning scores were at least double-digits under par.

The small greens and narrow fairways don't necessarily lead to super scoring conditions, and the par 5s are generally tough.

Overall, we need some ball-striking and putting.

Golfers With Great Course/Event History

The best strokes gained averages among golfers who have played at least twice here over the past five years (a "-" indicates a did-not-play situation):

Golfer FanDuelSalary CourseSG:T/Rd 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
JordanSpieth $11,800 2.10 7 2 10 8 32
TonyFinau $11,600 2.09 4 20 23 2 -
JustinRose $10,600 1.72 MC 20 3 58 1
CollinMorikawa $11,300 1.67 40 14 2 - -
BrendonTodd $9,600 1.59 3 8 MC - -
ViktorHovland $11,500 1.40 21 - 23 - -
ChristiaanBezuidenhout $9,700 1.18 15 - MC - -
EmilianoGrillo $9,400 1.15 63 8 MC 19 3
AndrewPutnam $8,700 1.01 15 MC MC 3 20
BrianHarman $10,000 1.00 MC 8 23 31 14
SungjaeIm $11,000 0.96 15 MC 10 MC -
MaxHoma $10,800 0.94 23 - MC 27 -
CamDavis $10,100 0.89 7 45 MC - -
ScottieScheffler $12,000 0.86 2 MC 55 - -


Past winners in the field include Sam Burns (2022), Justin Rose (2018), Kevin Kisner (2017), Jordan Spieth (2016), Chris Kirk (2015), Zach Johnson (2010 and 2012), and Rory Sabbatini (2007).

Win Simulations for the Charles Schwab Challenge

Here are the most likely winners this week, according to my win simulation model, as well as their golf betting odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Golfer FanDuelSalary Win% Top-10% MadeCut% FanDuelSportsbookWinOdds
ScottieScheffler$12,00015.7%58.7%90.3%+450
TonyFinau$11,6006.2%40.2%79.5%+1400
CollinMorikawa$11,3005.0%31.8%72.0%+1800
ViktorHovland$11,5004.8%29.5%70.5%+1400
SungjaeIm$11,0004.8%31.4%74.6%+2000
JordanSpieth$11,8004.4%27.1%69.7%+1200
MaxHoma$10,8003.8%31.7%75.2%+2200
JustinRose$10,6002.8%25.0%68.7%+3000
TommyFleetwood$10,5002.4%22.4%67.9%+3000
RickieFowler$10,7002.2%20.8%66.5%+3000
RussellHenley$10,4002.0%18.9%64.3%+4500
DennyMcCarthy$9,9001.9%20.8%66.4%+7500
BrendonTodd$9,6001.8%20.3%64.0%+8000
SamBurns$10,9001.8%16.1%58.3%+2200
ChrisKirk$10,2001.7%16.0%62.6%+5500
Si WooKim$10,3001.5%15.7%62.3%+5000
AndrewPutnam$8,7001.2%17.5%63.2%+15000
Kyoung-hoonLee$9,9001.1%14.0%58.9%+8000
CameronDavis$10,1001.1%11.6%52.8%+4500
BrianHarman$10,0001.1%13.0%57.1%+6000
TaylorMoore$9,3001.0%13.7%58.2%+8000
J.J.Spaun$9,1001.0%12.1%53.5%+10000
NickTaylor$8,8001.0%12.6%58.2%+12000
TomHoge$9,7001.0%12.8%56.0%+6500
KurtKitayama$9,8000.9%10.8%51.2%+7500
HaydenBuckley$9,5000.9%11.2%52.7%+12000
ChristiaanBezuidenhout$9,7000.9%12.3%57.7%+9000
J.T.Poston$9,0000.9%11.2%54.8%+11000
PatrickRodgers$9,5000.8%10.8%54.1%+9000
StephanJaeger$9,6000.8%10.2%54.9%+7000
EmilianoGrillo$9,4000.7%8.9%49.5%+10000
RyanFox$9,3000.7%9.8%50.1%+8000
BenjaminGriffin$8,2000.7%10.5%50.7%+15000
Min WooLee$9,8000.7%8.3%47.3%+6500
ThomasDetry$9,0000.7%9.2%48.3%+8000
BeauHossler$8,7000.7%7.4%49.7%+10000
HarrisEnglish$9,2000.6%8.6%48.1%+8000
ScottStallings$8,6000.6%8.5%48.0%+15000
BenMartin$8,2000.6%8.0%46.7%+17000
LucasHerbert$8,8000.6%6.8%42.9%+8000
AlexNoren$8,5000.6%9.8%54.4%+15000
EricCole$8,7000.5%8.0%48.8%+11000
RyanPalmer$8,8000.5%6.1%43.1%+12000
AlexSmalley$9,2000.5%7.4%47.1%+10000
SamRyder$8,0000.5%11.0%55.3%+25000
AaronRai$8,7000.5%6.8%47.2%+22000
JustinSuh$9,0000.5%9.4%50.4%+10000
RobbyShelton IV$8,2000.5%7.9%48.0%+20000
MaverickMcNealy$8,9000.5%8.4%50.7%+10000

Win Simulation Analysis and Best Bets for the Charles Schwab Challenge

As a heavy favorite, Scottie Scheffler isn't showing any particular value in my model for the week despite having a better win chance than any other two golfers combined. He's also nearly as likely to win as the next three names combined.

An even value exists for Sungjae Im at +2000, and he's got two top-15s in his past three attempts at Colonial. He fits from an accuracy standpoint, as well.

The early returns just aren't that promising in terms of pure value.

Long shots Denny McCarthy (+7500) and Brendon Todd (+8000) are boosted pretty substantially at this course and are, thus, rating out well in the simulation model. The same can be said about Andrew Putnam (+15000).

Daily Fantasy Golfer Picks for the Charles Schwab Challenge

All stats cited below originate at datagolf and reference ranks relative to the field over the past 50 rounds. References to my combo model refer to a combination of long-term, field-adjusted form, key stat performance, and hole-by-hole-level strokes gained data.

Best of the Best

Scottie Scheffler (FanDuel Salary: $12,000 | Golf betting odds: +400) - There's one clear standout superstar in the field from a daily fantasy standpoint, and it's Scheffler, who was one golfer away from a playoff for the PGA Championship. Scheffler's putting is not particularly great right now, and the putting splits from 5 to 10 feet (a predictive range) are also just average. Scheffler's gaining 2.87 true strokes per round from his tee-to-green game over the past 50 rounds, which is 0.94 strokes per round better than any other golfer in this field.

Sungjae Im ($11,000 | +2000) - With a stacked Tier 2 behind Scheffler, it's likely we'll get Sungjae Im overlooked. He has strong putting splits from 5 to 10 feet and is accurate (5th) off the tee. The irons are not elite (56th) right now, yet he does help save us salary from the second tier guys while also giving us access to big-time win equity.

Others to Consider:
Jordan Spieth ($11,800 | +1200)
Viktor Hovland ($11,600 | +1400)
Justin Rose ($10,600 | +3000)
Russell Henley ($10,400 | +4500)

Mid-Range Picks

Denny McCarthy ($9,900 | +7500) - Quietly, McCarthy is playing some good golf -- by the results, at least. He was T29 at the PGA Championship, T8 at the Wells Fargo Championship, T11 in the team event (Zurich), and T25 at the RBC Heritage. Now, he's not a great ball-striker (41st), but he's also not terrible there. This course suits him and his short game (14th) well.

Brendon Todd ($9,600 | +8000) - For the most part, McCarthy and Todd go hand-in-hand. Todd's got consecutive top-10 finishes at Colonial. He's got the field's best combined short game yet is 91st in combined ball-striking. He's 11th in accuracy, though, so he loses a lot of strokes off the tee from distance -- something that is forgivable this week.

Others to Consider:
Taylor Moore ($9,300 | +8000)
J.J. Spaun ($9,100 | +10000)

Low-Salaried Picks

Nick Taylor ($8,800 | +12000) - Taylor has a balanced profile for this field: 58th off the tee, 51st in approach, 22nd around the green, and 30th in putting. He's coming off of a missed cut at the PGA Championship and doesn't have a ton of recent starts under his belt but is an all-around golfer with a lot of experience at Colonial -- not that it's all good. It's a strong value profile, though.

Andrew Putnam ($8,700 | +15000) - Putnam has the best win odds in my model among the value tier, so it's no wonder that I like him. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship last week but had gained at least 1.12 strokes per round from approach alone in three events leading into it. We've seen him finish top-20 in three starts at Colonial -- while missing the cut in the other two.

Others to Consider:
J.T. Poston ($9,000 | +11000)
Eric Cole ($8,700 | +11000)
Ben Martin ($8,200 | +17000)