With our second major of the year behind us, the PGA TOUR season continues this week with the Charles Schwab Challenge. Since this tournament’s inception in 1946, Colonial Country Club (par 70, 7,289 yards, bentgrass greens) in Fort Worth, Texas, has hosted every edition of the Charles Scwhab Challenge, making this course and event combination the longest tenured on the PGA TOUR. At last year’s Charles Schwab Challenge, Emiliano Grillo (-8) won for the second time on the PGA TOUR, defeating Adam Schenk in a playoff. This week’s field consists of 133 golfers and after the expanded cut at the PGA Championship, the Charles Schwab Challenge features a standard cut with the top-65 and ties advancing following the first two rounds.
Colonial is a classic par 70, that features narrow fairways, small greens, 64 bunkers and water in play on six holes. Being long isn’t necessary at Colonial, and to succeed at this venue, you need to catch fire with both your irons and putter. Of the last five winners at Colonial, four have finished the tournament top-seven in both SG: Approach and SGP. As a par 70, this course features 12 par fours and only two par fives, putting a premium on par four scoring this week. Grillo finished third in par-four efficiency during his victory at Colonial last season, making him the fourth victor at this par 70 over the last five years to rank top-three in the statistic. Seven of the 12 par fours at Colonial range from 400-450 yards, making players who are efficient on this length of hole great targets. Since 2019, three of the five winners at Colonial have finished the event top-eight in efficiency on the 400-450-yard par fours of this par 70.
Below, I have featured four of my favorite DraftKings value plays for the Charles Schwab Challenge, that all are priced under $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K DRIVE THE GREEN [$50K TO 1ST]
Andrew Putnam ($7,400) – Putnam is a steal at this price tag. The veteran has been awesome at Colonial, making 4-of-6 cuts at the par 70, with all four of those finishes being top-30 results—including a T3 in 2019. As for his current form, Putnam is having an excellent season, with a 11-for-14 record in terms of made cuts and four top-25 finishes. Plus, when we compare this field’s last 50 rounds, the 35-year-old ranks 18th in SG: Approach, third in par-four efficiency and third in 400-450-yard par efficiency. This is tremendous news for Colonial, being that seven of the 12 par fours land in this range.
On the DraftKings Sportsbook, Putnam carries +5500 odds to win the Charles Schwab Challenge, which are elite odds relative to his cheap DFS salary. To put this in perspective, these are the same odds as Justin Rose, who is far much expensive for DFS at $8,500.
Lee Hodges ($7,200) – Hodges has finished T35th and T29th at the last two Charles Schwab Challenges, and returns to Colonial in compelling form. The 28-year-old is coming off a T12 finish at the PGA Championship last week, which marked the best major finish of his career and his sixth made cut in his last eight starts. Competing against the world’s best players at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, Hodges had a incredible showing as a ball striker, finishing the major fourth in SG: Approach. In fact, the 7.6 strokes he gained on APP is the most Hodges has produced in the category in 20 starts, dating back to his win at the 3M Open last season.
If Hodges can in anyway carry over this momentum as a ball striker to Colonial, he is a real threat for a top-10 finish in this weak field.
Robert MacIntyre ($7,000) – MacIntyre should make some noise in his Charles Schwab debut this week. After finishing T13th at the Myrtle Beach Classic, the Scottish professional impressed at the PGA Championship last week, finishing T8th, which marks his third career top-10 finish at a major. During this finish at Valhalla, MacIntyre gained strokes in every major category and shot under par in all four rounds.
The 27-year-old is now the 76th ranked player in the world following the PGA Championship and is far too cheap for his upside at only $7K.
Dylan Wu ($6,100) – While Wu missed the cut in his Charles Schwab debut a year ago, the 27-year-old is a far more polished player now and shouldn’t be priced this low. Wu sits 147 spots higher in the world golf rankings this time around and is currently having his best season on the PGA TOUR.
In 13 starts, he has made 10 cuts and carded six top-30 finishes. Wu has made six consecutive cuts entering this week and he has gained strokes on approach at all these events. Furthermore, when we analyze this field’s last 50 rounds, Wu ranks 27th in SG: Approach and 15th in SGP, making him a perfect match for Colonial. In this type of form, Wu is a strong bet to make the cut this week, which would be a great return at this cheap salary.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K DRIVE THE GREEN [$50K TO 1ST]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
