The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history, and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
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The Field
The Charles Schwab Challenge will run this year as an Invitational event but without Signature field status. That means we’ll get a field of 120 golfers with a regular cut line after Friday, where the top 65 players and ties will make the weekend. The Charles Schwab is one of the older events on the PGA TOUR (first held in 1946), and the venue is a classic in its own right and stands out from some of the more modern designs. It did undergo some extensive renovations for 2024, but is likely to play somewhat similarly to how it has in the past.
The field this week still includes some of the top names on the PGA TOUR, with number one ranked Scottie Scheffler and last week’s PGA Championship winner, headlining the field. World number 14 Tommy Fleetwood and world number 17 Harris English are also in the field, as are past champions Jordan Spieth and Davis Riley, who finished T2 last week at the PGA Championship. Despite this being an Invitational, there is still a bit of “dead money” at the bottom of the field with names like Michael Block, Corey Pavon, and David Frost getting spots.
The Course
Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas
Par 70, 7,289 yards; Greens: Bentgrass, Fairways and rough: Bermuda
The event this week will be the fourth time that the PGA has played in Texas this season, with past Texas winners including Min Woo Lee- Houston, Brian Harman – Valero, Scottie Scheffler – CJ Cup.
Colonial Country Club plays as a traditional par 70 that lands just under 7,300 yards in length. The course features tight fairways with several old trees that are very much in play and often block approaches on off-center tee shots. That, along with a couple of severe doglegs and smaller greens, means there is a big premium on accuracy. Driving accuracy numbers at Colonial are usually quite below PGA TOUR averages, and players will often club down quite a bit off the tee simply due to the setup.
To make things even tougher, there’s a plethora of bunkers throughout the course, and play from the sand is something to keep note of this week — there are some great bunker players in the list of past winners (Na, Kisner, and Jordan Spieth, to name a few). The bentgrass greens are also smaller than average, and water is surprisingly in play on this parkland course on six holes to keep things interesting. As a result, a pure-power game often doesn’t play that well here, and accuracy with mid-irons and strong bentgrass putting has been the key to success for many past winners.
As for the layout, the first couple of holes at Colonial play rather easily, with the leadoff par-5 being a near-must birdie — it’s the easiest hole players face all week. The other par 5 (11th hole) plays very long at a maximum of 635 yards, but still plays as one of the easiest holes overall. The par 3s are a mixed bag but play quite tough in general, mainly due to the small greens and the fact that water and sand are in play for wayward tee shots. Only one of the par 3s plays well over 200 yards, but the smaller greens put a big premium on accuracy.
The Par 4s do vary a little, but of the 12 par 4s on the course, seven of them fall in the 400-450 yard range, making that a good distance to target when looking up par 4 efficiency stats. From an approach perspective, proximity stats between 150-175 yards should be leaned on as that is typically the distance most of the players will come from on a lot of these holes.
The venue did undergo extensive renovations for 2024, led by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, that began right after the 2023 event and were aimed at restoring the course to its original design. New Bentgrass greens were installed, and some hole locations were moved, including the Par 3 8th and Par 3 13th. These holes should now play tougher as the water and penalty areas will now present a bigger challenge than they did previously. Barrancas (small gulleys with natural vegetation) were added around many holes to give the course a more natural flavour and feel.
The venue didn’t play that much differently in 2024 than it has in recent years, but tougher tee shots on multiple par 3s undoubtedly put a bigger emphasis on ball striking, and only one player (the winner Davis Riley) managed to end the week at double-digits under par. However, if the greens do play more receptive (in the past they have often dried out as the week went on), we could see scoring be somewhat easier than it has been the past couple of seasons.
2025 Weather Outlook: The weather can sometimes be an issue at this event with spring thunderstorms in season, but for 2025, it doesn’t appear as if the weather will be a huge cause of concern. The highs on all four days are set to be in the low 80°F range, with winds staying somewhat mild the first two days. Wind does start to pick up a little on Friday, and Friday afternoon could see the heaviest gusts of the first two days. Saturday looks like it could be a brutal day with gusts well above 20mph all day long, so look for short games to get tested on Day 3. Additionally, that may be a good time to target some of the early tee times in one-day lineups. For classic lineups, with the wind coming in Friday, late, avoiding the Friday PM wave could be an edge to look at if the current forecast holds.
Last 5 winners
Davis Riley–2024 (-14 over Scottie Scheffler and Keegan Bradley -9)
Emiliano Grillo—2023 (-8 over Adam Schenk playoff)
Sam Burns—2022 (-9 over Scottie Scheffler playoff)
Jason Kokrak—2021 (-14 over Jordan Spieth -12)
Daniel Berger—2020 (-15 over Collin Morikawa playoff)
Winning Trends
- 11 of the last 12 winners of the Charles Schwab Invitational had a T8 finish or better on the PGA TOUR in one of their previous six starts before their respective win.
- 12 of the last 12 winners of the Charles Schwab Invitational had a T14 finish or better on the PGA TOUR in one of their previous six starts before their respective win.
- Six of the last nine winners had finished T14 or better at Colonial in a previous season.
- Four of the last five winners of the Charles Schwab (not including 2020) played in the PGA Championship the week prior.
Winners Stats and Course Overview
2024 Winner: Davis Riley (14-under par)
2024 lead-in form (T66-T30-MC-T14-MC)
SG: OTT—3.6
SG: APP—7.9
SG: TTG—11.4
SG: ATG—-0.1
SG: PUTT—5.9
- Top players at Colonial have tended to rank well in the Strokes Gained: Approach category, with both Justin Rose (2018) and Na (2019) leading the field for the week in SG: APP during their win. Kokrak gained +5.2 strokes on approach in 2021 but lost -2.0 strokes ATG. Burns wasn’t quite as prolific but still gained 3.9 strokes for the week. Riley dominated with his irons last season, gaining 7.9 strokes on approach which was the second-best mark of the week.
- Putting tends to be weighted almost as heavily in past winners’ stat profiles. Burns gained +5.0 strokes putting, and last season’s winner (Grillo) gained 7.4 strokes on the greens (second most in the field). Riley also spiked with the putter last season, which is what led to his five-stroke win.
- Eight of the last nine winners at Colonial have now gained over +5.0 strokes putting for the week on these greens. Some of the most elite spike putters in the sport (Spieth, Kisner, and Na) have all grabbed wins at this event over the past six seasons.
- It’s also worth noting that four of the last five winners all gained strokes putting in the start before their win at Colonial as well, while Riley gained 2.5 strokes putting two starts before Colonial last season.
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value comparative to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
JJ Spaun +4500 and $8,400
Comparables:
Thorbjorn Olesen +7000 and $7,700
Comparables:
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Jordan Spieth ($9,800; best finishes: win-2016, T2-2015, 2021, win-2017): Colonial has proven to be the perfect setup for Spieth over his pro career. The Texas native is more than used to the climate, and the tighter track doesn’t emphasize power as much off the tee. He’s landed top-10 finishes here in six of the last nine seasons and is second in the field in SG: Total here over the last five years.
2. Scottie Scheffler ($13,700; best finishes: T2 – 2024, 2022): Scheffler has shockingly never won this event, but he’s played Colonial brilliantly nonetheless. He leads teh field in SG: Total stats at its venue over the past five seasons (despite a MC in 2021) and has shot 67 or better at this venue in five of his last eight competitive rounds.
3. Emiliano Grillo ($7,400; best finishes: win-2023, 3rd-2018, T8-2021): Grillo won this event in 2023 and posted top 10 finishes at this event in 2018 and 2021. The Argentine’s ball-striking typically allows him to excel on more technical tracks, but he’s found a ton of success on these greens as well. His history is more up and down compared to the top pros, but still very positive and worth noting.
4. Daniel Berger ($9,900; best finishes: win-2020, T20-2021): Berger is typically great on these classic Par 70 setups. He won at Colonial in a playoff back in 2020 (the first event after Covid) and has a decent history of solid finishes here. He’s coming in with solid form, but did take a small step back at the PGA Championship last week.
5. David Lipsky ($6,300; best finishes: T3-2022, T8-2021): Lipsky’s form has been brutal for much of the season, but he’s managed to spike at Colonial numerous times over the last few seasons. He finished T16 here in 2023 and improved on that last year with a T9 finish. With course history being somewhat important this week, thanks to the larger sample, Lipsky makes sense as a big field GPP target at 6.3K.
Recent Form
1. Scottie Scheffler ($13,700; win-win-T4): Scheffler won his third major championship last week and cemented himself as the best player in the game once again. He’ll look to take home his first win at Colonial this weekend.
2. Davis Riley ($8,600; T2-MC-T45): Riley was consistent last week and had a great weekend putting to land a T2 finish at the PGA. He’s played well for two months straight now and is the defending champion of this event.
3. Harris English ($9,200; T2-T11): English had a terrific PGA Championship, shooting 65 in the final round and landing himself a T2 finish in the process. He’s been in the thick of things at Colonial before and certainly has a shot at landing his second win of the year this week.
4. JT Poston ($9,400; T5-T23): Poston fell back a little down the stretch but had a great PGA Championship, gaining 5.6 strokes on approach. He’s now made the cut in 12 straight PGA starts.
5. Ben Griffin ($8,700; T8-T46): Griffin handled the longer Quail Hollow extremely well, landing a T8 last week while gaining 3.5 strokes on approach. He sets up well for Colonial and is a name to consider for balanced builds in DFS this week.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Don’t skimp on Scheffler
It’s pretty obvious we have a generational player in his prime in Scottie Scheffler ($13,700) this week on a course where he is likely owed a little luck. Another Scheffler win seems like the most obvious outcome, so if you’re playing cash game formats, then starting with him is likely a necessity. Going with Scheffler in these formats of games will obviously mean taking more risks throughout your lineup. Ryo Histatune ($7,100) is a solid young player and the type of golfer who could help make up some of the difference in salary at just 7.1k. Matt Kuchar ($6,800) also offers some appeal, even if his upside is a little lacking at this point. He has made the cut at Colonial in five of his last six visits. Even though he’s playing the course for the first time, Michael Thorbjornsen ($7,000) is another name I’d consider in this range.
Tournaments: Cauley could surprise
Even though he’s had a couple of mid-starts in a row, this event and course make a lot of sense for a Bud Cauley ($7,900) breakout. The American already has three top 10 finishes on the season and has played Colonial plenty of times in the past. Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,500) is another name to consider for GPPs and big fields this week after he gained 5.0 strokes on approach at Quail. He’s played Colonial well and is overdue for some positive regression with the putter. Below him, Andrew Putnam ($6,700 – see below) and Gary Woodland ($7,300) are two names I’d consider using this week in GPPs. Woodland didn’t have a great PGA but has played these shorter courses well in the past and has a top 10 at Colonial.
MY PICK: Si Woo Kim ($8,900)
Kim has never had much success around Colonial, although he did finish T29 at this event back in 2023 and has gained over 2.5 strokes on approach at Colonial in each of the last two seasons. Still, given his overall body of work throughout his career, this should be a venue where he eventually posts some good results. The South Korean has won at another tight par 70 in Sedgefield, as well as two tighter Pete Dye designs in TPC Sawgrass and TPC Stadium, which certainly carry some decent correlation with this week’s venue.
Truth be told, Kim’s recent form is so appealing this week that his history at this venue matters little. The 29-year-old is coming off a T8 at the PGA Championship, where he gained over 6.0 strokes putting and gained over 3.0 strokes on approach for the third event in a row. It’s a great sign considering how slowly he started the year, and it feels like the sort of results that could lead to another win down the road.
While he’ll have to overcome the hottest player in the game this week, Kim’s proven he can hold his own against the best in the world on setups like Colonial, and certainly makes plenty of sense as a target for DFS builds that are planning on fading Scheffler’s 13k+ salary in big GPPs. At +4000 on the DraftKings Sportsbook, he’s also the sort of mid-range outright pick that makes sense and has historically paid off at this venue.
MY SLEEPER: Andrew Putnam ($6,700)
We’ve seen plenty of veteran players like Putnam perform well at this event in the past, so it wouldn’t be overly shocking if the 36-year-old comes through with a decent week at Colonial. The American comes in off having made a couple of cuts in a row and shot a 65 at Myrtle Beach to open his event before ejecting on the weekend with a 79. Still, Putnam’s game has had some legs of late as he also finished a tidy T15 at the Byron Nelson a few weeks back, another event played in Texas where he gained 3.0 strokes on approach, and over 5.0 strokes putting.
Stat-wise, he also ranks 14th in SG: Approach stats (last 24 rounds) and is 9th in proximity from 150-175 yards (also last 24 rounds), which happens to be a key approach basket for this week. Putnam has missed the cut at Colonial in three of his last five visits, but he also finished T3 here in 2019 and T15 just a few years ago in 2022. Overall, he’s gained over 4.0 strokes putting the greens at Colonial in two of his last three starts.
At just 6.7K, he makes perfect sense as a GPP target for larger field builds and is a solid ladder betting target at +450 (top 20) and +1100 (top 10) on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is wavegoodbye) 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 skill 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.
