Category: analysis and ratings

The 2019-20 PGA Tour season resumes Thursday, June 11, with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Previously an invitational event, the 2020 field is expanded to 144 golfers, including many of those ranked at the top of the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. Below, we look at the top fantasy golf picks for the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge.

Colonial Country Club features Bentgrass greens and measures 7,209 yards with a par of 70. The scores of the last five tournament winners have ranged from 10-under par to minus-20.

Charles Schwab Challenge: Fantasy Golf Top 30

Here are my top-30 fantasy golf rankings for the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.

30. Brandt Snedeker

Snedeker has a strong history at Colonial, having gained an average of 1.06 strokes per round on the field across 36 career rounds. He made the cut in each of his last five trips to Fort Worth, picking up a T-2 in 2015 and a T-19 last year.

29. Adam Hadwin

Hadwin is an excellent putter on Bentgrass greens. He tied for fifth at Colonial in 2015 and followed it with three more made cuts before skipping last year’s event.

28. Harris English

Another strong putter (sensing a theme?), English was the runner-up in 2016. He ranks fifth in the field among those with a minimum of 10 rounds played with 1.58 true strokes gained per round at Colonial, according to Data Golf.

27. Shane Lowry

Lowry makes his debut at Colonial coming off his 2019 Open Championship victory. The 24th-ranked golfer in the Golfweek rankings tied for 21st at The Honda Classic in a rare non-major appearance in North America before the season was suspended.

26. Kevin Na

The 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge champion has finished inside the top 10 in three of his last four visits to Fort Worth. He’s a steady performer on and around the greens.

25. Matt Kuchar

Kuchar had a couple of strong finishes early this year. He won the SMBC Singapore Open on the Asian and Japanese Tours, and he was a co-runner-up at The Genesis Invitational. He’s well-experienced at Colonial with 42 career rounds and an average of 1.48 strokes gained per round.

24. Marc Leishman

Leishman won the Farmers Insurance Open and finished second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before his season was put on hold. He’s not a particularly strong putter on Bentgrass surfaces, but the rest of his short-game play has been in excellent form.

23. Joaquin Niemann

Niemann opened the 2019-20 season with a victory at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. He was ice cold to begin the 2020 portion of the schedule, missing the cut at The Genesis Invitational, The Honda Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He still ranks third in my stat model at Fantasy National, which looks at everyone’s most recent 50 rounds played on courses with Bentgrass greens.

22. Lucas Glover

Glover ranks 10th by the same stat model, leaning on a strength of Par 4 Efficiency on holes measuring between 400 and 450 yards. He missed the cut in his last two appearances here, but his 38 career rounds rank among the most of anyone in the field.

21. Scottie Scheffler

The reigning Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year finished T-15 at the API prior to the Tour’s season being suspended. He’ll debut at Colonial having shot up to 28th in the Golfweek rankings.

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20. Byeong Hun An

An bucks the trend of backing putters, but he was in otherwise excellent form earlier this year, highlighted by a T-4 finish at The Honda Classic. He ranks among the best in the field in Strokes Gained: Scrambling, and he has a good approach game.

19. Daniel Berger

Berger was showing flashes of his former self earlier this year. He finished T-4 at The Honda Classic and T-5 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Putting is a weakness, but his ball-striking is back in top form.

18. Rickie Fowler

Golf fans were able to see Fowler at the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins match where he was the best in a foursome consisting of Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Matthew Wolff. Fowler tied for 14th here in 2018, but he missed the cut last year.

17. Xander Schauffele

Schauffele has a surprisingly poor history at Colonial. He missed the cut each of the last two years following a T-48 finish in 2017. He’s a reliable putter who can get hot, and he is a low scorer.

16. Collin Morikawa

Morikawa still hasn’t missed a cut as a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He tied for ninth in a strong field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

15. Patrick Reed

Reed is an excellent putter and does extremely well on our selected par-4 distance of 400-450 yards. He tied for 15th here in 2016 before taking the last three years off.

14. Sungjae Im

Im, who picked up his first PGA Tour win at The Honda Classic earlier this year, missed the cut here in 2019, but he missed the cut in just two of 26 worldwide events since. He has an excellent short game and can create scoring opportunities.

13. Kevin Kisner

Kisner finished T-5 in 2015 and T-10 in 2016 before winning the plaid jacket in 2017. He has since finished T-52 and missed the cut in 2019. He is third in the field in SG: Putting on Bentgrass greens across everyone’s last 100 rounds on the surface.

12. Gary Woodland

Woodland was rounding into form immediately before the break, finishing T-12 at the WGC-Mexico Championship and T-8 at The Honda Classic. A weaker putter, he’ll rely on excellent ball striking and scoring.

11. Bryson DeChambeau

DeChambeau ranks fourth in my overall stat model. He missed the cut in three of four appearances here, but he finished inside the top five in each of his last three events in 2020.

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10. Tony Finau

The 2019 runner-up has gained an average of 1.57 strokes per round across his 16 career rounds at Colonial. He’s an expert ball-striker and low scorer.

9. Jordan Spieth

Throw out any ill-feelings you may have toward Spieth due to his struggles over the past three seasons. The 2016 champion of Colonial tied for second in both 2015 and 2017 and tied for eighth last year. He leads the field with 2.52 strokes gained at this venue, and his putter has remained consistently elite amid his struggles from tee-to-green.

8. Jason Day

Day is the only member of the field better with the putter than Spieth over everyone’s last 100 rounds on Bentgrass. Persistent injury issues have kept him out of the winner’s circle since 2018, but he’ll be well-rested after last withdrawing from the API.

7. Dustin Johnson

Johnson was a disaster at the TaylorMade event, but it’s quite possible the charity event didn’t have his full interest. He ranks seventh in the stat model and is the second-best ball-striker over everyone’s last 50 rounds.

6. Webb Simpson

The No. 1 golfer in the Golfweek rankings skipped last year’s event following a missed cut in 2018. He was fifth in 2017 and tied for third in 2016. Putting isn’t a strength, but he excels as an escape artist, which could have him better prepared than most to shake off the rust.

5. Brooks Koepka

Koepka has now had plenty of time to rest and fully heal the knee injury which was plaguing his play early in the calendar year. He was the runner-up in 2018, his only career appearance at Colonial, and he gained 4.01 strokes on the field.

4. Rory McIlroy

McIlroy was in good, not great, form at the TaylorMade event. His closest-to-the-pin shot in the playoff proved to be the winner. He’s fifth in the stat model and will be looking for his first win of 2020 after four top-five finishes.

3. Jon Rahm

Rahm ranks fourth in the Golfweek rankings and his early 2020 form may have been trailing only McIloy. He collected two wins on the European Tour to end his 2019 campaign. He then finished second at the Farmers Insurance Open and tied for third in Mexico.

2. Justin Thomas

Thomas is another of the top-ranked golfers making his debut at Colonial in the restructured 2020 season. He bests the stat model, ranking first in Ball Striking and Birdies or Better Gained.

1. Justin Rose

Chalk Rose up as someone likely to have enjoyed the break from competitive golf. He had missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, The Honda Classic and the API before play was suspended. He won here in 2018 and ranks second in the stat model coming in.

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