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These five players are the ones to watch this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
The PGA Tour is back in Texas this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, at Colonial Country Club. After a exciting PGA Championship, some of the PGA Tour’s best will battle it out in the Lone Star state for a hefty $8.7 million.
In the field are 24 of the Top 50 golfers in the world, including three inside the top 10. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is back in his home state for another crack at this title after finishing runner-up last year in a playoff to Sam Burns. He reclaimed the No. 1 spot over Jon Rahm after finishing T2 at the PGA Championship last week.
Colonial Country Club has hosted the Charles Schwab Challenge since 1946 without changing venues. This year will be the final one with the course in its current state, as there will be a $20 million in-depth renovation from Gil Hanse that will begin after this tournament.
The PGA Tour players will tackle a par-70 course for the second straight week. However, Colonial is a touch shorter, measuring out at 7,209 yards.
The two par-5s come on the first and 11th holes. That opening hole is 565 yards, and the 11th is a hefty 635 yards, so the big sticks will be out for both of them. There are three 450-plus yard par-4s in holes No. 3, No. 5 and No. 14.
Long hitters will appreciate this course, but keeping it in the short stuff will be important with trees lining the fairways. There are small greens so the approach shot will be one of the most important ones of the week. Accuracy will reward players at Colonial.
Three of the five players to watch had impressive weeks at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY., but all five of these guys could don the plaid jacket and take home the win this week in Fort Worth.
Justin Rose
Justin Rose is coming into the Charles Schwab Challenge with a lot of momentum. He finished T9 at the PGA Championship and is playing really good golf right now. Rose won this event in 2018, so he knows how to get around Colonial. He also finished T3 back in 2020.
His performance at Oak Hill should not be taken lightly. Both courses require good iron play and that has always been something Rose excels at.
Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler is the only guy on this list who missed the cut at Oak Hill but could still find himself on top of the leaderboard. He shot back-to-back 73s, missing the cut line by one shot. His form wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good enough to make the weekend. However, with a T5 under his belt at this course and three top-20 finishes, Fowler could be looking at the week his drought ends.
He is No. 10 in strokes gained approach to the green, which could help him. Fowler also has seven top-20 finishes in his last nine starts heading into this week, so it’s only a matter of time before he wins again.
Tony Finau
Oak Hill gave Tony Finau everything he could handle, finishing T72. However, the veteran was playing well prior to the PGA Championship. Finau won his second event of the year at the Mexico Open at Vidanta and recorded a T23 at Wells Fargo Championship.
He has gone 7-for-7 making cuts at Colonial, with this lowest finish coming in 2016. Last year he went T4, and he had a solo second in 2019. Finau plays this course well, and if he can look past last week, his third win could come less than a month later.
Tommy Fleetwood
Tommy Fleetwood will tee it up for the second time at the Charles Schwab Challenge after finishing T35 last year. However, since Riviera, he has had nine perfect starts — five top 20s, three of those being in his last three events.
He finished T18 at Oak Hill and is No. 3 in scrambling from over 30 yards. He is also No. 4 in strokes gained around the green, which will be a key stat at Colonial. If he can continue to play like he has the last few weeks, the Englishman could see his first PGA Tour win.
Viktor Hovland
After falling just short of winning his first major championship, Viktor Hovland heads to Fort Worth with only one thing on his mind — winning. He will make his third Charles Schwab Challenge start this week, tallying a T23 in 2020 and a T21 finish in 2022.
The Norwegian is playing some incredible golf right now, and it’s past time for him to win another tournament. Hovland is the only player to finish in the top 10 in the last three majors. He joins Scheffler as the only two players to finish in the top 10 at the three 600-point FedEx Cup events.
He leads the PGA Tour in approach shots greater than 100 yards averaging 38 feet to the hole. Hovland is also No. 7 in strokes gained approach to the green. If he can keep his short game at the level it was for the PGA Championship, Hovland could run away with this tournament.
