Niall Lyons has a team of four heading to Colonial Country Club, Fortworth, Texas in the Charles Schwab Challenge.
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 then in 2024 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.
Last year Griffin ranked 55th in driving distance and it didn't feature at all. 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. The last five winners here have ranked 17th, 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.
Charles Schwab Challenge 2026 Tips
- 2.5pts each-way JJ Spaun 28/1 (1/5 6) General
- 2pts each-way H.Matsuyama 28/1 (1/5 6) General
- 3pts WIN R.Fowler 25/1 Unibet
- 1pt each-way T.Finau 60/1 (1/5 6) General
JJ Spaun at 28/1 (Six Places)
I've always believed if Thorbjorn Olesen is to breakthrough on the PGA Tour that it just may be in the windy state of Texas and I also wouldn't rule out John Parry having a really nice week here also.
Eric Cole's best chance of a victory is more than likely to come at courses such as this and it wouldn't surprise me should he outplay his odds this week.
However, my preference is to play it a little safer this week with some tried and tested operators on courses such as this and I'm going to play JJ Spaun.
Spaun was a general 28/1 shot for the Valero Texas Open last month and having won there I find it a little insulting he goes off the same price in this. Since then he has finished 25th at Harbour Town, 14th at Doral then 5th at Quail Hollow.
A poor week on the greens contributed heavily to a missed cut at the PGA Championship but his long game was in fine nick once again.
Spaun had a poor record in this event up until last year where he finished 6th but it's important to note he is a much improved golfer this last 18 months.
This event isn't a whole pile different to that at the Oaks Course last month and with a similar field I feel he is a little underestimated.
Hideki Matsuyama at 28/1 (Six Places)
At the start of April most of this field lined up in the Valero Texas Open and we can glean a little from the prices back then. One that stands out to my eyes is Hideki Matsuyama and I'm happy to include him in the staking plan.
Accuracy nor distance off the tee doesn't matter an awful lot around here and instead it's a test on how you perform thereafter.
Matsuyama is one of the best in these departments and he looks a little overlooked in the market. He was around the 20/1 mark for the Valero whilst this weeks favourite Aberg was around 16/1.
The Swede has closed in 6 or 7pts in the market for this test whilst Matsuyama has drifted and it doesn't quite look right to me. Since that event Hideki has finished 21st in the Masters and 26th in the PGA with his approach play and short game absolutely firing in those two events.
He has only played here twice down the years (10th and 36th) but the course should be perfect for him.
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Rickie Fowler at 25/1 (WIN)
Rickie Fowler went incredibly close to winning once again at Quail Hollow a few weeks ago and a quick return to a classical style golf course should be perfect for him to build upon that. I
t was a strange PGA Championship for many reasons and it was only a misfiring putter that resulted him in finishing down the field in 60th.
He ranked 34th tee to green which was a fair effort but was 73rd of 82 with the putter. I don't expect that to linger with Fowler and confidence should be sky high heading here.
He must have thought he has the tournament at his mercy when he stiffed his approach into 16th at Quail Hollow on the final day only to miss the short effort which would have taken him into the solo lead.
A further bogey up the final hole put pay to his chances and Reitan closed it out. Fowler is a different animal right now though and he'll be eyeing a return to the Ryder Cup squad in Ireland next year.
Getting back in the winners circle is important and with the top 8 golfers in the world rankings not teeing it up this week this looks like a huge opportunity.
Tony Finau at 60/1 (Six Places)
Wyndham Clark stepped back into the winners enclosure last weekend, a few weeks prior to that Brandt Snedeker did the same and with Rickie Fowler contending lately also it would be foolish to ignore Tony Finau's recent form.
Things seemed to turn at the Truist Championship at the beginning of the month where he was 31st and played quite well with the irons.
When finishing 6th last week at Craig Ranch he ranked 4th from tee to green and a better week on the greens (47th of 70) would have seen him in contention at the weekend.
The putter continues to hold him back a little but Colonial is a place where he has generally putted pretty well on. 2nd in 2019 and 4th in 2022 is a sign of how well he can play around here and ranking 4th in greens in regulation last week is a big positive.
Any upturn in the putter could see him go close.
