PGA Tour Picks: Charles Schwab Challenge

By Tom LaMarre

Golf fans were ecstatic to watch TaylorMade Driving Relief and The Match II: Champions for Charity on television the last few weeks, so you can only imagine what they are feeling this week with a complete PGA Tour event on TV.

Most of the players seem to be excited, too, with top-ranked Rory McIlroy and the rest of the top five in the World Golf Rankings and 16 of the top 20 in the field, giving the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, the strongest field of the season.

It’s the first PGA Tour event since the Tour Championship at TPC Sawgrass was canceled before the start of the second round because of Coronavirus pandemic on March 13, and spectators will not be allowed on the course at Colonial.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but for me personally, I just want to get back out and play,” said McIlroy, who will be playing at Colonial for the first time. “I’m planning to play the first three events, Colonial, Hilton Head and the Travelers, and then see where we go from there.

“ … I think it will be nice to get back out and play. Obviously we’re going to have to take as many precautions as possible to be able to put Tour events on again, but I think the PGA Tour has got a very robust plan in place. … I’ll be ready to go in Fort Worth.”

McIlroy’s biggest chore was to get his caddie, Harry Diamond, back from the United Kingdom in enough time to be on the bag at Colonial despite the regulations in place for the virus.

Diamond flew back and quarantined at McIlroy’s guest house in Florida for two weeks.

“We will be able to get Harry on the bag,” McIlroy told the BBC last month. “We have a guest house that he can quarantine in and make sure he does all the necessary things that he needs to do to caddie for the next few weeks.”

The only top 20 players passing on Colonial are No. 6 Adam Scott of Australia, No. 7 Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA, No. 10 Tommy Fleetwood of England and No. 11 Tiger Woods, who has played at Colonial only when he tied for fourth in 1997.

Scott has previously expressed concern over the PGA Tour’s Covid-19 testing protocol, and might wait two months before re-entering competition, and Fleetwood told Golf Digest in May the quarantine times for international visitors might keep him on the other side of the Atlantic for quite some time.

“It isn’t impossible for me to play,” Fleetwood said. “Far from it. But two weeks of quarantine at both ends of a trip across the Atlantic is a huge issue. That factor really made my decision for me.

“To go over and play in the three events scheduled for June would eat up seven weeks of my life. That’s more than double what a trip like that would normally take. I wouldn’t want to be away from my wife and kids for that long.”

No. 2 Jon Rahm of Spain, No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 4 Justin Thomas and No. 5 Dustin Johnson also are entered in the Charles Schwab Challenge, where Kevin Na of Diamond Bar is the defending champion.

McIlroy is the betting favorite, but because it’s difficult to pick a legitimate favorite because we don’t know for sure exactly what the best players in the world have been doing since March.

BEST BETS

1. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland – The last time we saw McIlroy a few weeks ago, he hit the winning wedge shot in a sudden-death playoff in TaylorMade Driving Relief. Rory hasn’t won since the WGC-HSBC Champions in November, so he is due. He is playing Colonial for the first time, but won the Canadian Open in his first try last year.
2. Justin Thomas, United States – JT was an on-course commentator a couple weeks ago in The Match: Champions for Charity, but now he’s seeking his third victory of the season after claiming the CJ Cup and Sentry TOC in the early going. Thomas, who is second in the FedEx Cup standings, also is playing for the first time in the Colonial.
3. Jon Rahm, Spain – “Rhambo” won four times around the world last year, but is winless so far in 2020, obviously some of that because of the Covid-19 shutdown. He does have four top-10s this year, including second in the Farmers and a tie for third in the WGC-Mexico. Rahm tied for second at the Colonial in 2017 and tied for fifth in 2018.
4. Webb Simpson, United States – The 2012 U.S. Open champion is playing some of the best golf of his career with a victory in Phoenix, a second in the RSM and a third in the Sony Open to rank fifth in the FedEx Cup standings. Simpson tied for third at Colonial in 2016 and was solo fifth the following year, after holding the first-round lead both times.
5. Bryson DeChambeau, United States – Was coming on strong before the season was halted, tying for fifth in the Genesis, finishing second in the WGC-Mexico and fourth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his last three starts. DeChambeau, who won in Dubai in January, must do better at Colonial, where he missed the cut three times in four starts.
6. Dustin Johnson, United States – DJ was slowed early this season following left knee surgery late last year, but he did tie for seventh in the Sentry TOC and tie for seventh in the Genesis. He seemed fine physically when teaming with Rory McIlroy to win TaylorMade Driving Relief. Last played at Colonial in 2014, when he tied for 14th.
7. Patrick Reed, United States – Claimed his eighth PGA Tour victory in the WGC-Mexcio a few weeks before the season was halted and has four finishes in the top 10 this season, including a tie second in the Sentry TOC. Reed, who is sixth in the FedEx Cup standings, was in the hunt before tying for 16th the last time he played Colonial in 2016.
8. Brooks Koepka, United States – Another player slowed by a left knee injury, the break might have done the 2019 Player of the Year some good after he missed the cut twice, couldn’t crack the top 40 in two events and withdrew from another early this year. Koepka finished second in 2018 at Colonial, posting 63s in the second and fourth rounds.
9. Sungjae Im, South Korea – The FedEx Cup points leader, Im claimed his first PGA Tour victory in the Honda Classic and was solo third in the Arnold Palmer Invitational a week later for his fifth top-10 finish this season. A two-time winner on the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour, he shot 72-72 to miss the cut by two shots in his only Colonial start last year.
10. Marc Leishman, Australia – After claiming his fifth PGA Tour victory in the Farmers last January, finishing second in the Arnold Palmer and third in the Safeway, Leishman was seventh in the FedEx Cup standings when the season was halted. His best finish in seven starts at Colonial was a tie for 13th in 2016 with four rounds in the 60s.

OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH: Justin Rose, England; Jason Day, Australia; Phil Mickelson, United States; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; Kevin Na, United States; Rickie Fowler, United States; Xander Schauffele, United States; Shane Lowry, Ireland; Jordan Spieth, United States; Matt Kuchar, United States; Gary Woodland, United States.

SLEEPERS

1. Dylan Frittelli, South Africa – Has five victories as a pro, including 2019 John Deere, and has five Top 25s this season, including T-6 at Sanderson Farms and T-7 at Safeway.
2. Joel Dahmen, United States – Twice a winner on PGA Tour Canada, shot 58 during break in Arizona, was T-8 in Scottsdale Open. Four Top-10s on PGA Tour this season.
3. Zac Blair, United States – After winning once in each of the last two years on lower tours, Blair tied has T-3 in Safeway, T-14 at Mayakoba and T-18 at Pebble this season.
4. Kyoung-Hoon Lee, South Korea – A four-time winner on Asian tours, Lee finished T-5 in RSM Classic, T-13 in Genesis Open and T-14 in Puerto Rico Open this season.
5. Matthew NeSmith, United States – Won 2019 Boise Open to finish first in Korn Ferry Tour Finals, has fives Top-25s on PGA Tour this season, including T-6 in Puerto Rico.

For first-round tee times, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html