Charles Schwab Challenge 2022
Overview
Dates: May 25, 2022 to May 29, 2022
Location: Texas, USA
Course: Colonial Country Club
Course Par: 70
Course Length: 7209 yards
Prize Purse: $8400000
The PGA TOUR makes its final Texas stop of the season, visiting historic Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge.
FedExCup leader – and native Texan – Scottie Scheffler headlines the field that features five of the world’s top 10.
Results
A mixed week for FG followers; one that finished better than had looked likely at the half way stage, but worse than appeared likely half way through the final round. Tony Finau was the highlight, sneaking into the top 8 with a strong weekend, finishing fourth in the end despite having never got close enough to the lead to attract the attention of the broadcasters. I don’t recall a single shot of his having been shown over the final two days, which is pretty unusual for a guy who finishes only two shots off the lead. That shows what a strange weekend it was. There were about half a dozen players who at one stage held a score that would have seen them take the title if they’d just held on to it. Most surprising was that Scottie Scheffler was unable to convert, and even when Sam Burns handed his card in at -9 a good couple of hours before the leaders were due to finish, he would have been seriously contemplating getting straight into a taxi to the airport. But as everyone fell away he found himself in a playoff with the world number one and duly converted a long putt to win it.
Finau’s finish meant we just about broke even on our outright picks. We would have been close to doing so on our top 20s but for one of the most incredible back 9 collapses I’ve ever seen from Harold Varner III. Having joined the tie for the lead, he then proceeded to play his final seven holes in ten (yes, ten!) over par, which even included a birdie! When you’ve backed a guy for top 20 who’s in the joint lead with 7 to play and finished 27th, that’s a little hard to take. But that’s golf punting for you. It’s rarely a stress-free ride.
On we move to the Memorial at “Jack’s Place” this week, which always has a strong field and makes for great viewing.
Preview
By Simon Bavin
Feeling a little burnt out this week after four late nights watching the US PGA unfold. It was dramatic a major as we’ve had for some time, with a host of major maidens apparently set to fight it out until one by one they fell away and up stepped Justin Thomas to close it out. For those of us who were invested in Cameron Young at 66/1 and bigger, it’s hard not to look back with some regret given that he finished one shot out of the playoff and the double-bogey on 16 in particular was hard to take. A great performance however and he remains someone to be very interested in for the future and has now proven that he has a game that stands up to the highest levels of pressure.
On to the Charles Schwab Challenge this week; as ever in the week after the majors it feels like a good opportunity for lesser-heralded players to take advantage of the post-major hangovers that will no doubt be impacting many of those who took on the Southern Hills test last week.
Course form is a big consideration this week, with Colonial shaping up as a tricky test where position off the tee will be important along with a sure touch around the greens.
Outrights
| Player | Points | Type | UK Odds | Places | Outright US Odds |
| Tom Hoge | 2.5 | each way | 60/1 | 8 | +7000 |
| Tony Finau | 3 | each way | 33/1 | 8 | +4000 |
| Sebastian Munoz | 1.5 | each way | 55/1 | 8 | +6000 |
| Abraham Ancer | 2 | each way | 35/1 | 8 | +4000 |
| CT Pan | 1.5 | each way | 90/1 | 10 | +9000 |
| Austin Smotherman | 1 | each way | 175/1 | 10 | +22000 |
We’ll steer clear of the market leaders this week and kick off with an old favourite of ours in Tom Hoge (2.5pts ew, 60/1, 8 places). Fresh of the back of squeezing into the top 10 at the PGA (albeit not having been in close enough contention to be feeling disappointed at missing out), Hoge still seems to be underrated by the market. He’s having the season of his life and has all facets of his game in good working order at the moment. The price makes him easy to include despite not having a great deal of Colonial form (a top 20 in 2016 being his best finish).
Tony Finau (3 pts ew, 33/1, 8 places) may seem at first glance like a surprising inclusion given that his form since he finally secured his second tour victory has been disappointing to say the least. But his course record is excellent (2nd in 2019) and he has quietly been on an upward trend over the last three months (an under-the-radar top 30 in the PGA being the latest example). A player of his natural ability is bound to recover form and if he gets back to anything like his best, there’s no way he should be this price in this field.
Sebastian Munoz (1.5 pts ew, 55/1, 8 places) has only had two looks round Colonial, but a T3 last year gives hope that it’s a place that suits his eye, while his recent SG data puts him in the top 10 or so in this field. It feels like he could easily pick up one of these routine events sooner rather than later.
Abraham Ancer (2 pts ew, 35/1, 8 places) may be feeling a little bruised by his final round at Southern Hills, when the par putts he’d been rolling in with such confidence deserted him, but his game looked to be in such good nick over the first three days that I’m happy to include him here. One of the straightest drivers on tour, hopefully he can carry his form into this week and keep the putter rolling through the weekend.
CT Pan (1.5pts ew, 90/1, 10 places) looks to be worth a small investment purely on course form, with a small uptick in his putting stats this week probably being enough to get him into contention.
Finally, Austin Smotherman (1pt ew, 175/1, 10 places) just looks to be too big a price for someone whose ball striking stands up against most on the tour and on a few occasions has shown that he’s capable of turning this into scoring that can certainly make plenty of cuts and even sneak the odd top 10 finish. Having not got involved last week, this might just be a good time to catch him.
Of those at the front of the market, Spieth is the obvious one since he has the best course form in the entire field (he always seems to do well in his home state) and has been in regular contention recently. But his price looks a touch skinny for someone who is still clearly working on his swing and is some way below his best on the greens. Scheffler could easily bounce back (having had the worst of the draw on the first two days) and make his price of 12/1 look extremely generous, while it’s hard to imagine JT going back to back just days after finally bagging his second major. Webb Simpson was interesting, having shown definite signs of a return to form over the weekend (although worth noting that for some reason he always seems to do well over major weekends). And Davis Riley is very much on our radar, although I’m not sure the week after having experienced the upper reaches of a major leaderboard is the right timing to include him. On course form alone, Kevin Na has to be considered, and I can easily see him going top 20, but would prefer to have seen better recent form before including him in our outright picks.
A mixed week for FG followers; one that finished better than had looked likely at the half way stage, but worse than appeared likely half way through the final round. Tony Finau was the highlight, sneaking into the top 8 with a strong weekend, finishing fourth in the end despite having never got close enough to the lead to attract the attention of the broadcasters. I don’t recall a single shot of his having been shown over the final two days, which is pretty unusual for a guy who finishes only two shots off the lead. That shows what a strange weekend it was. There were about half a dozen players who at one stage held a score that would have seen them take the title if they’d just held on to it. Most surprising was that Scottie Scheffler was unable to convert, and even when Sam Burns handed his card in at -9 a good couple of hours before the leaders were due to finish, he would have been seriously contemplating getting straight into a taxi to the airport. But as everyone fell away he found himself in a playoff with the world number one and duly converted a long putt to win it.
Finau’s finish meant we just about broke even on our outright picks. We would have been close to doing so on our top 20s but for one of the most incredible back 9 collapses I’ve ever seen from Harold Varner III. Having joined the tie for the lead, he then proceeded to play his final seven holes in ten (yes, ten!) over par, which even included a birdie! When you’ve backed a guy for top 20 who’s in the joint lead with 7 to play and finished 27th, that’s a little hard to take. But that’s golf punting for you. It’s rarely a stress-free ride.
On we move to the Memorial at “Jack’s Place” this week, which always has a strong field and makes for great viewing.