Niall Lyons has five selections for this week's Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, Fortworth, Texas.
Charles Schwab Challenge
This event is hosted at Colonial Country Club, Fortworth, Texas.
At just over 7200 yards this track is short by today's standards and with plenty of dog legs dotted throughout the course it tests a players capability to strategize.
Typically Driving Distance didn't matter at all here, but surprisingly Kokrak topped that statistic when winning in 2021, and Burns was 3rd when winning the following year.
It reverted in 2023 with Grillo ranking 66th in driving distance but last year of the eight players who made the top 5 and ties only two of those ranked outside the top 20 in driving distance for the week.
This is a place where ball striking is key and if you can marry that with a performing putter then you're in business.
Hitting these small greens in regulation with regularity will give you an advantage on the rest and as you can see below the last four winners here have ranked 6th, 8th, 7th and 2nd in greens in regulation for the week.
The winners and placers here down the years are littered with top ten performers in approach play and if you concentrate on that area alone and you can narrow down your search for potential winners here at Colonial.
Below is a look at the stats of the top performers from the last four editions of this tournament.
Charles Schwab Challenge Tips
- 1.25pt each-way H.Hall 60/1 (1/5 8) WilliamHill, Bet365
- 1pt each-way E.Grillo 100/1 (1/5 6) Unibet, Bet MGM, Livescore
- 1pt each-way M.Hughes 70/1 (1/5 6) Skybet
- 1pt each-way A.Eckroat 110/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 place market
- 1pt each-way N.Echavarria 150/1 (1/5 6) Unibet, BetMGM, Livescore
William Hill
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Harry Hall at 60/1 (Eight Places)
With two Korn Ferry Tour victories and one PGA Tour victory Harry Hall has carved out a very successful career in the game and at only 27 years old has a very bright future.
He certainly isn't the longest off the tee and can find difficulty at some of the longer venues but he must be closely watched when the tour rolls into a venue like Colonial where short game becomes a premium.
His ball striking of late hasn't been great but he certainly didn't disgrace himself last week at the PGA Championship ranking 45th in that department on route to his first Major top 20 finish.
Hall's short game is where he gains plenty on the field and with the difficultly level of hitting greens here heightened he gets more than chances than usual to make those gains.
He led for the first three days here two years ago before missing out on the playoff by a shot and with the Scheffler factor here we are getting a nice price about him repeating something similar.
Emiliano Grillo at 100/1 (Six Places)
2023 Champion Emiliano Grillo looks interesting here and after a week off may just arrive at one his favourite venues slightly more refreshed than many.
Being a ball striking expert throughout most of his career and a really solid putter it is no surprise than one of his only two PGA Tour victories has come here at Colonial. 3rd in 2018 and 8th in 2021 this is certainly one of the places where he is consistently better.
What is eye catching here is that he put together his best week on approach in six years last time out at Myrtle Beach.
Had his short game been in better nick that week he could have seen a lot better than his 20th placed finish.
He has now made five of his last six cuts and must be quietly confident heading back to Texas.
1pt each-way E.Grillo 100/1 (1/5 6) Unibet, Bet MGM, Livescore
Mackenzie Hughes at 70/1 (Six Places)
Mackenzie Hughes may have missed the cut miserably at Quail Hollow but that isn't enough to put me off getting involved with the Canadian at anything north of 50/1.
Before a 6th placed finish last year at Quail Hollow his efforts prior to that read CUT-CUT-CUT-59-CUT-CUT.
Clearly it isn't one of his better venues and although he has a somewhat sketchy record here at Colonial also I can't help but feel his recent golf should put him right in the mix.
He remains one of the most lethal putters on tour and having finished 3rd at Harbour Town then runner up at Myrtle Beach he can revert back to that form following a difficult week at the PGA.
He was lying 2nd here in 2019 heading into the final day and he looks capable of producing once again.
Austin Eckroat at 110/1 (eight places)
A few weeks ago I selected Austin Eckroat in the Byron Nelson when 66/1 was the best available. He missed the cut there then followed that with a 51st placed finish at the Truist.
His iron play was of significance though ranking 7th in the field on approach. Last weeks 67th makes it a trio of somewhat uninspiring results but I'm surprised to see the drift to triple figures and beyond here on a layout that should suit.
With a win in Mexico and in Florida Eckroat has shown what he can do on coastal venues and he'll always be a danger man when the tour is in Texas.
He was inside the top ten at halfway here two years ago and he looked overpriced to land a third victory this week.
Nico Echavarria at 150/1 (Six Places)
Nico Echavarria has already managed two PGA Tour victories in a relatively short career to date and his best performances are usually left to venues to like these.
A winner at a windy Puerto Rico is always relevant when heading to Texas whilst his other victory came at the classical tree lined venue Narashino in Japan. That performance was gutsy beating Justin Thomas in the process and his best efforts since suggest Colonial should be perfect.
2nd at the RSM Classic, 2nd at Waialae and 16th at the Valspar are all indications that he can go well at Colonial where his only effort to date was a missed cut on the number last year on debut.
He is a much improved golfer since then and having ranked 16th off the tee and 17th on approach last week at Quail Hollow should arrive with plenty of confidence.
1pt each-way N.Echavarria 150/1 (1/5 6) Unibet, BetMGM, Livescore
