2022 Charles Schwab Challenge: Breakdown And Picks To Win At Colonial

The PGA Tour returns to Texas for a final time this season for the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge at the historic Colonial Country Club.

The PGA has made regular trips to the lone star state over the past couple of months and once again that is where we are this week. This time for the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge at the historic Colonial Country Club.

Colonial is a staple on the PGA schedule each year having hosted Tour events since 1946. It is the longest-standing host site on the PGA schedule and it will host this week for a 76th time.

This week, the field making the short return trip to Texas is a significantly strong one, especially for the week directly after a Major championship. Six of the current top 10 players in the Official World Rankings are preparing to take on the iconic golf course this week.

Its 484 strength of field rating just about puts it right on par with the field that showed up for the Farmers Insurance Open back in January.

2022 PGA Champion Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, and Jordan Spieth are all in attendance at this week’s 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge.

Colonial Country Club

• Par 70
• 7,200 Yards
• Perry Maxwell and John Bredemus Design
• 120 players
• Top 65 and ties make the cut

Favorites at the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge

(All Odds Courtesy Of WynnBet)

• Jordan Spieth (+1100)
• Justin Thomas (+1200)
• Scottie Scheffler (+1200)
• Collin Morikawa (+1800)
• Viktor Hovland (+2000)
• Will Zalatoris (+2200)
• Sam Burns (+2800)
• Max Homa (+3000)
• Sungjae Im (+3000)

Pick to Top 20:  Brian Harman (+200)

Colonial Country Club is perfectly suited for a player with Brian Harman’s skill set and he has demonstrated just how comfortable he is at the iconic course throughout the years.

Harman has made the cut here in eight consecutive appearances, this includes four top 20 or better finishes during that span.

He has made the cut in three consecutive starts coming into this week and has gained strokes on approach in his last two starts. Harman ranks 11th in driving accuracy this season.

Pick to Top 10:  Kevin Na (+400)

Na, who won the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2019, enters this week having played some solid golf over the past couple of months and is coming into this year’s Charles Schwab Challenge on the back of a 23rd place finish at the PGA Championship last week on another Perry Maxwell design.

Kevin has also had some nice results at the Masters throughout his career, so it’s no wonder that he has tended to play well at Colonial throughout the years as well.

He has made the cut here in six of eight appearances, this includes four finishes of top 20 or better. One of the keys to this week for players will be great approach play and that is an area that Kevin has certainly excelled in this season.

Na has gained strokes with his approach play in three consecutive starts now and he ranks 29th on Tour in that department in 2022.

He has also been excellent with his approach shots from 125-150 (1st) and 150-75 (4th) yards, an area that many shots can be expected to come from this week.

Pick to Win:  Tom Hoge (+5500)

Tom Hoge is trending upwards once again after finishes of 17th and 9th in his last two starts. He secured his first PGA win earlier this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and is really having a career year.

Tom, who has risen to 37th in the World, doesn’t have the greatest history at the Charles Schwab Challenge so far in his career, but I would expect that to change this week. Colonial’s small greens are reminiscent of Pebble’s and Hoge should relish attacking the small targets this week with his excellent approach game.

He ranks 6th on Tour in strokes gained approach this season and 30th in par 4 scoring as well. Colonial has multiple par 4s, so performing well on these holes will go a long way towards finding success this week.

Pick to Win:  Collin Morikawa (+1800)

Morikawa has played the Charles Schwab Challenge twice, the first time was during the first event after the pandemic pause, Collin finished runner-up to eventual winner Daniel Berger that week. The second time was last year when he finished 14th after gaining over 7 strokes with his irons.

The 2021 Open Champion is looking for his first win in 2022 and there is little reason why that can’t come this week on a course that suits his game perfectly. Morikawa ranks 16th in driving accuracy and 9th in strokes gained approach this season.

If he can get a few putts to drop this week he can win once again, and after his success at Colonial in two previous starts, I like his chances of doing just that this week.