2020 Charles Schwab Challenge Preview

charles schwab golf preview

The Charles Schwab Challenge is one of five tournaments on the PGA Tour that are invitational and is played at one of the revered courses in America – The Colonial Country Club. The name of the tournament keeps changing but an invitational tournament has been played at Colonial since 1946. Also known as “Hogan’s Alley” associated with Ben Hogan and his 5 tournament wins, it is a tournament that players, especially those from Texas look forward to an invitation to come play.

Event Info

  • Date – June 11 to 14th, 2020
  • Prize Pool – $7,500,000
  • First Place – $1,350,000
  • Field Size – 144
  • FedEx Cup Points – 500

The Course

The Colonial, also called “Hogan’s Alley” after Ben Hogan’s five tournament wins is a mix of short and long holes notorious for its doglegs winding through the trees. Players will need to shape their shots with lots of draws and fades to set themselves up for a shot at the green and avoid the trouble off of the fairways.

Accuracy at the Colonial will be more important than distance off the tee as well as a solid putting game with tricky greens that have a smaller surface compared to most PGA Tour courses. The course itself is relatively flat but the narrow fairways make this a course built for shot makers. The most difficult stretch of the course is at the beginning with holes 3, 4 and 5 being labelled the “Horrible Horseshoe” capped off by the brutal doglegged Par 4 fifth hole which has a length of 472 yards. Miss to the right and you’ll be in the Trinity River and if you don’t shape the shot then a straight drive will end up in the trees as well.

PGA Tour – Hole by Hole Guide

Colonial Country Club Facts

  • Location – Fort Worth, Texas
  • Par = 70
  • Yards = 7209
  • Private Club, Membership Invite Only
  • Course Designed By: John Bredemus & Perry Maxwell

colonial country club golf

The Field for 2020

So far we have about 63 players who appear to have been added to the field for 2020, keep in my nothing is confirmed 100% yet and given the circumstances surrounding the 2020 PGA season things can change. According to the official Charles Schwab Challenge field list we have some big names already to look forward too.  Among the notables on the list:

– Bryson DeChambeau
– Tommy Fleetwood
– Zach Johnson
– Kevin Kisner
– Kevin Na (Defending Champion)

Update:  More names have been confirmed in the field the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge.  Here is the official field list so far:

Byeong-Hun An
Abraham Ancer
Daniel Berger
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Zac Blair
Keegan Bradley
Scott Brown
Olin Browne
Bronson Burgoon
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Chad Campbell
Bud Cauley
Cameron Champ
Wyndham Clark
Keith Clearwater
Corey Conners
Franklin Corpening
Joel Dahmen

Jason Day
Bryson DeChambeau
Jason Dufner
Tyler Duncan
Harris English
Tony Finau
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Rickie Fowler
Dylan Fritelli
David Frost
Jim Furyk
Brian Gay
Lucas Glover
Talor Gooch
Branden Grace
Lanto Griffin
Emiliano Grillo
Bill Haas
Chesson Hadley

Adam Hadwin
Brian Harman
Scott Harrington
J. J. Henry
Jim Herman
Kramer Hickok
Harry Higgs
Charley Hoffman
Tom Hoge
J. B. Holmes
Max Homa
Billy Horschel
Beau Hossler
Viktor Hovland
Charles Howell III
Mark Hubbard
Mackenzie Hughes
Sungjae Im
Jazz Janewattananond

Zach Johnson
Dustin Johnson
Matt Jones
Sung Kang
Si Woo Kim
Chris Kirk
Kevin Kisner
Patton Kizzire
Russell Knox
Brooks Koepka
Jason Kokrak
Matt Kuchar
Andrew Landry
Bernhard Langer
Nate Lashley
Danny Lee
Kyoung-Hoon Lee
Tom Lehman
Marc Leishman

Past History / Winners

The most wins by any one player at the Charles Schwab Challenge is 2 which shared amongst 8 golfers. The most notable players still active include Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson.  Tom Watson has the most top tens of all time at Colonial with 10 Top Tens ironically.

Ben Hogan was the king of this course and practically holds almost all records at Colonial Country Club. The clubhouse is home to the "Hogan Room" which has a visual celebration of his career along with replica trophies he has won.

Here are the past 10 winners of the Charles Schwab Challenge:

2020 – Daniel Berger
2019 – Kevin Na
2018 – Justin Rose
2017 – Kevin Kisner
2016 – Jordan Spieth

2015 – Chris Kirk
2014 – Adam Scott
2013 – Boo Weekley
2012 – Zach Johnson
2011 – David Toms

Charles Schwab Betting Preview

The 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge will be the restart of the PGA Tour schedule after the Corona Virus/Covid-19 pandemic took hold of the sports world and shut down play. After many tournament cancellations the PGA has shuffled some tournaments around and the Charles Schwab Challenge moves from its Memorial Day slot in May to the June 11th tee off.

Noteworthy is that the Charles Schwab Challenge will be played without any fans present as will at least the next 3 tournaments after that. It remains to be seen how many golfers will start off their schedule this week and what shape their golf game will be in after a long layoff.  What that means from a betting perspective is this tournament is going to be an absolute crapshoot.

Who’s been staying in shape? Who’s been practicing in their backyard ? Who’s been crushing beers every night? This event is going to be so intriguing and I think all the longshots are in play here as everyone should be on the same playing field to start day one of the new look golf season.

Betting Odds

Below is a snapshot of the current betting odds for most of the popular players. Odds provided by Intertops, please visit them for full list of players.

  • Rory McIlroy +700
  • Jon Rahm +1200
  • Justin Thomas +1600
  • Bryson DeChambeau +2000
  • Brooks Koepka +2500
  • Dustin Johnson +2500
  • Jordan Spieth +4000

Charles Schwab Fantasy Preview

So the one important thing to note when picking your fantasy team for this event is that the Colonial is a short golf course.  The driver is almost taking out of the hands of the big bombers so accuracy and ball striking are going to be the key.  Just look at some of the past winners here of late – Kevin Na, Justin Rose, Adam Scott. These are finesse players who are great with their approach shots when they are playing well.  Last year, Kevin Na was only 10% owned on Draftkings and he was needed to take home the big prizes.  You can find a lot of great value here because the guys in the $8500 range are usually ball strikers who go relatively under owned.

Pay attention to the weather because if there is no wind these guys will eat this course up, it is no challenge for today’s top players. If that’s the case throw in a couple guys who you think are in form and ready to go right out of the gates.

Most Common Questions

Here is the most commonly asked questions when it comes to the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament.

How Can I Watch the Charles Schwab Challenge?

The Schwab Challenge will air on the golf channel for Thursday and Friday.  On the weekend CBS will show Rounds 3 and 4 starting at 3pm respectively each day.

How Much Does The Winner Get?

The winner of the Charles Schwab Challenge gets $1,350,000.  This is around the average 1st place prize payout on the PGA tour.  The total prize pool is $7.5M and if you make the cut you earn a cheque, the minimum a player will win for making the cut will be approximately $14,000.

Who Can Win The Charles Schwab Challenge?

This is one is going to be a true toss up because of the circumstances leading into the tournament, that being the Corona Virus pandemic of 2020. I think you will have to lean to the favorites like a Jordan Spieth or Rory McIlroy but this is a good tournament to take a shot on a dark horse.

Check out our Golf Betting section for Charles Schwab Challenge picks to win.

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