PGA DFS Core Plays: Charles Schwab Challenge
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS picks at various salary ranges for this week’s tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
Even though the course was much easier than expected, what a week we had at the PGA Championship. From Scottie Scheffler getting arrested to Xander Schauffele winning his first major to Alejandro Tosti stealing the headlines on Sunday, it was a week to remember. I was personally rooting for Bryson DeChambeau to win since I had an outright bet on him, but I’m still happy to see Schauffele finally break through with his first major win. Hopefully, this can quiet many of the critics (I love Xander, but even I was starting to have doubts).
We now turn our attention to the Charles Schwab Challenge, which is always held at Colonial Country Club. The course has undergone some major renovations since the last time we saw it. In fact, the club spent $21 million to make a bunch of changes. The course was lengthened by 89 yards, barrancas were added on many of the holes, they replaced the grass and drainage systems, and they even changed a number of green-side bunkers to grass bunkers. This has routinely been one of the 10 toughest courses on TOUR, and the new renovations should keep it that way for years to come.
Noto’s PGA Model Download & Video for the Charles Schwab Challenge
The new layout at Colonial now stretches 7,289 yards. While there have been several changes, I don’t expect the course fit to change all that much. Given the narrow fairways, number of doglegs, and several forced layups, this is one of the few courses where distance isn’t a big advantage off the tee. The average driving distance here last year was 283 yards, which was one of the lowest marks of the season. Despite many clubbing down off the tee, golfers could only hit 57% of fairways. This week is more about getting the ball in play off the tee than distance or accuracy.
The greens at Colonial are small (5,000 square feet on average), difficult to hit in regulation (58% last year), and made of bentgrass. With the fairways and greens being difficult to hit for the field, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen good scramblers dominate this event over the years (Kevin Na, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Kisner, etc.). The forecast is calling for 20+ MPH gusts on all four days, so experience in Texas and in the wind is certainly a positive. Ultimately, I’m looking for golfers who are strong on approach, around the green, and on the green.
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PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Core Plays for the Charles Schwab Challenge
Field Size:
- 132 golfers
Cut Rule:
- Top 65 and ties
Weather Forecasts
Colonial Country Club
- Location: Fort Worth, Texas
- Par 70 — 7,289 yards
- Difficulty: 2023 (9th), 2022 (11th), 2021 (18th), 2020 (13th), 2019 (7th)
- Recent winners: Emiliano Grillo, Sam Burns, Jason Kokrak, Daniel Berger, Kevin Na
- Number of holes with water hazards: 6
- Green type: bentgrass
- Green size: 5,000 square feet
- 2023 tournament averages:
- - Fairway width: 27.5 yards
- - Driving accuracy: 57%
- - Driving distance: 283 yards
- - Greens in regulation: 58%
- 2023 approach shot distributions:
- - 50-100 yards: 8%
- - 100-125 yards: 13%
- - 125-150 yards: 21%
- - 150-175 yards: 23%
- - 175-200 yards: 16%
- - 200+ yards: 11%
Event and Course Notes
- One of a handful of courses where distance isn’t much of a premium
- This is more of a second shot and in type of test
- Scrambling and putting are keys to success (see: Jordan Spieth and Kevin Na)
- Classical golf course that features only two Par 5s
- Course was redesigned last year, so it might play even tougher than usual
- It was lengthened by 89 yards and many bunkers were turned into grass bunkers
- The course has narrow and tree-lined fairways
- Many compare it to Harbour Town
What to Look For
- Strokes Gained: approach
- Strokes Gained: around the green
- Strokes Gained: putting (emphasis on bentgrass)
- Bogey avoidance
- Total driving
Core Plays
Brian Harman
DraftKings: $9,500 / pOWN%: 14%
FanDuel: $10,300 / pOWN%: 20%
Total Driving: 49
Strokes Gained Approach: 61
Strokes Gained Around the Green: 26
Strokes Gained Putting: 8
Birdie or Better %: 62
Bogey Avoidance: 8
I’ll be honest – I don’t plan to play a ton of Scottie Scheffler this week. This course rewards a good short game, and while he’s elite around the green, we know he can struggle with the flatstick at times. More importantly, in the last month of his life, he has won the Masters, he has had his first child, and he has been arrested. He’s been a machine on the course, but I could see all of that taking a toll eventually. Anyway, Harman is my favorite spend of the week. He tends to play his best on shorter courses, especially ones that are difficult. He’s accurate off the tee, he has one of the best short games on TOUR, and his irons have been heating up (he gained 5.7 strokes on approach last week). He clearly likes Colonial, as he’s finished T31 or better in 9 of his last 10 appearances at this event.
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