After a break of several months, the US PGA Tour gets back into action this coming weekend with the Charles Schwab Invitational, formerly the Colonial National Invitational, taking place at Colonial National Golf Course in Fort Worth, Texas. The standard field of 120 has been expanded to 144 to cope with the demand of the world’s top golf stars to compete in the first PGA Tour event in many weeks.
A number of the world’s elite players including the likes of Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Justin Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy will be amongst those teeing off on Thursday morning hoping that they will be in contention to win the winner’s trophy and the lion’s share of a $7.5 million prize pool.
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With this weekend’s event being the first in a while, interest in the tournament is sure to be keen. So before we bring you our tips on the players to back to win or land an each way place at the tournament, let’s first take a closer look at the history of this event.
Charles Schwab Challenge/Colonial Invitational History
The first Colonial National Invitational was contested in 1946 and has been a mainstay on the USPGA tour pretty much ever since. As an invitational, it is one of just five such tournaments that are part of the PGA Tour each season. It was renamed the Charles Schwab Challenge due to a new sponsorship deal being agreed for the tournament.
The current holder of the trophy is American Kevin Na. American players have enjoyed huge success in the tournament over the years. Only two players from outside the U.S. have won the trophy in the past 13 years, Justin Rose in 2018 and Adam Scott in 2014.
Ben Hogan holds the record for most wins in the tournament with five victories seeing him well clear of a cluster of players who have all landed two wins apiece that includes the likes of Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson.
The aforementioned Zach Johnson holds the record for the lowest winning score at the event when posting a score of -21 back in 2010. He won again two years later for his second victory.
Colonial Country Club Course Outline
Although Colonial Country Club has been changed a few times over the years, many of its signature holes remain similar and in particular a stretch of three holes called “Horrible Horseshoe”, which runs from the third to fifth holes, makes this a particularly tough start for the field. The fifth in particular has a fearsome reputation, a 481-yard par four which consistently ranks as one of the toughest holes that PGA Tour golfers will play over the course of the season.
After that tough start birdies can be found in the middle and later sections of the round, with only a few tougher holes thrown in. The par is 70 and the course is ranked in the top 100 courses in the United States. It has also hosted the US Open in 1941 and the women’s US Open in 1991.
The course record is 61, which is held by seven PGA Tour professionals, one of whom is last year’s winner Kevin Na.
Who should I be looking to back for this weekend’s event?
With a far greater quality line up than you would ordinarily expect for this tournament, it looks like being a baptism of fire for the 144 golfers that tee things up on Thursday morning to get things underway, in front of no spectators at the course, but more extensive coverage on TV and online.
All of the world’s top three ranked golfers are in attendance in Texas with Rory McIlroy rated the 8/1 favourite for the event with bet365. Spaniard Jon Rahm is a 12/1 shot with Brooks Koepka a 28/1 shot after his form tailed off before the break.
McIlroy looked in good shape in a number of warm up events and that and his world ranking mean he is well backed by punters, the same can also be said for Rahm who of the two is arguably the better value at 12/1.
However, this tournament has a long history of producing American winners and the representatives of the home nation are incredibly strong, with players like Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Tony Finau and Ricky Fowler expected to join Koepke in making a strong challenge.
Of that group, Justin Thomas (16/1) is a player I think has the game to do well on this course, not only is he a long hitter, but he is also very skilful in and around the green and his form is arguably the best of all the American players over the last 12 months or so.
One thing is sure, with a number of international stars such as Jason Day, SungJae Im, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in the field, as well as two Major winners from last year in Gary Woodland and Shane Lowry, it promises to be an exceptional contest whoever does land the trophy on Sunday.
My tip is to go on the each way market and back Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas at 12/1 and 16/1 respectively, but also have a smaller odds wager on the legendary Phil Mickelson to land a place in the top six at 125/1.
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