Charles Schwab Challenge Preview
- trackmengolf
- Jun 9, 2020
- 6 min read
92 days since the last putt was holed at the ill-fated Player’s Championship of 2020, the PGA Tour is finally set to resume in Fort Worth, Texas for the Charles Schwab Challenge. In the extenuating circumstances, this event could be forgiven for attracting a less than stellar field but that is anything but the case here. Starved of any competitive action for the last couple of months, the world’s top 5 are all in action at Colonial or as the PGA Tour would prefer to sell it, 17 of the top 20 in the current Fedex Cup standings. By its nature, golf was always handily positioned to be one of the first outdoor activities allowed back in the early easing of lockdown restrictions and has been given a rare opportunity to showcase itself to a whole new audience who would otherwise be watching or playing more popular contact sports. It still seems scarcely believable to us in Ireland who can’t leave our own county that 148 professionals who were scattered around the US and further afield would be able to assemble in one place and pass the necessary tests and quarantine rules in order for this event to be given the green light, but so it is and it should provide us with some welcome entertainment for the evenings ahead.
How will it look?
There will of course be one glaring omission this week: the fans. The first five events of the rearranged PGA Tour schedule are set to be played behind closed doors with the John Deere Classic now replaced with an event at Muirfield Village, with crowds expected to return the following week as the Memorial is played at the same venue. Other than that, players, caddies and one designated other who have passed extensive coronavirus tests will be allowed to attend the tournament as normal. As for the action on the course itself, suspicions are that the absence of large groups of fans and the usual hospitality areas will widen the course a little and punish some wayward shots more than they often would. It’s also hard to gauge how different players will react to the absence of the usual raucousness that accompanies most PGA tour events. It could alleviate some of the pressure that can overwhelm those who find themselves in contention when they are not used to being there, while at the same time those who thrive in the pressure of being in the hunt on Sunday afternoon will not be able to feed off of the atmosphere provided by the crowds. This could in theory narrow the gap in ability between the best and worst players in the field, something we’ve seen with the loss of the usual aspects that accompany home field advantage in other sports. While watching golf this week will definitely be a poorer overall experience than we are used to, it will be nice to not to hear any shouts of “bababooey” for at least a few weeks.
What will it take to win here?
Fortunately, we know a lot about Colonial as it holds the accolade of being the longest running non-major tour event held at the same site. Colonial is a par 70 measuring 7,200 yards so not long by modern standards, and will be described quite a lot this week as a “classic” golf course, which essentially means that it can’t be overpowered. For many sceptics of the direction golf course design is heading, Colonial provides a nice break from the usual bomb and gouge style of play that we see more frequently on the PGA tour with the recent roll of honour consisting of many players who excel in ball striking and around the greens.
Only one of the last 12 winners has ranked in the top 10 for driving distance during the week with last year’s champion Kevin Na ranking 58th for the field in that stat as he putted his way to the tartan jacket. Accuracy off the tee is more important but not essential to victory here with iron-play being the most important aspect to highlight. Na, ranked 1st for strokes gained approaching the green and 2nd for strokes gained putting on route to victory last year and that has very much been the template for success at Colonial down the years. A quick glance at the last 10 winners would reveal as much, with not many revered for their prowess with the driver:
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
2010 Zach Johnson
It's not to say that big hitters haven't of course performed well here in the past with Brooks Koepka pushing Justin Rose all the way in 2018 and Jon Rahm posting back to back top 5 finishes in the last couple of years but the point that the attribute which is usually their most potent is negated by this test, and should bring in some of the shorter hitters who tend struggle on some of the more demanding courses on the PGA Tour circuit.
The Field:
As eluded to earlier, this is a far classier field than is generally attracted to this event with both Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas among those making their debut at Colonial. McIlroy was in spectacular form pre-lockdown posting 5 top-5 finishes in his last 7 starts before an inconspicuous start to his defence of his Player’s Championship title, so it’ll be interesting to see what sort of shape his game is in on a course that he’s probably not best suited to. Other big names include Dustin Johnson who is returning for the first time since 2014 and tournament regulars Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm. Jason Day, Bubba Watson and charity skins trio Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff are all in action with as well as former champion and local boy Jordan Spieth. A note of caution for some of those seeing the course for the first time this week as Sergio Garcia was the last debutant to win this tournament back in 2001, as the small greens and other nuances of this tree-lined track tend to take a bit of knowing before gaining any success. There may be more of an emphasis on those who live locally having been able to avoid the stresses of travelling through heavily restricted airports and being afforded the pleasure of staying at home rather than being cooked up in a hotel room all week so it could pay to keep a close eye on some of the Texans in the field including Ryan Palmer, Harry Higgs, Beau Hossler, Scottie Scheffler, Jimmy Walker as well as the PGA Tour’s resident villain, Patrick Reed. Some players in the field will also have had some semblance of a return to competitive action with various staged tournaments in Texas, Arizona and Georgia in the last couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see if that reaps any benefits this week.
Irish Interest:
The Open Champion of 2019 and Ireland’s favourite sportsperson Shane Lowry will be back in action this week having based himself in Florida throughout the lockdown period to allow him to travel within the USA to play the PGA Tour as soon as it returned. It’s also Lowry’s debut at Colonial but there are reasons to believe he could have a good week if he’s not too rusty on his return with his ability to shape the ball either way aligned with a majestic short game (great touch for a big man) suggesting he could be suited to the test posed here. We've already dealt with McIlroy in detail and he can obviously win at any course when in full flow but a strong showing here at a venue that might not show him to best effect should bode well for the rest of the new look PGA Tour schedule. Graeme McDowell will also be lining up and has had two previous attempts at the course, finishing 29th in 2017 and 73rd last year. It’s already been a great year for Gmac having gotten back into the winner’s circle at the Saudi International on the European Tour and there’s no reason why his neat and tidy style shouldn’t be well suited to Colonial having gained some valuable experience of the course already. Let’s just hope he hasn’t indulged in too many cold beers during the lockdown.
Rising Stars:
Finally, there will be a couple of unfamiliar names in the field to look out for this week for those who don’t regularly tune into the PGA tour outside of the majors. The aforementioned Scottie Scheffler has been making waves all year having already posted four top-10s on the PGA Tour this season and is clearly in fine fettle having finished 1st and 2nd in the recent Maridoe Invitational, a tournament set up for pros in Texas during the lockdown which attracted a couple of decent fields. Many will have seen Matthew Wolff in action in the charity skins match playing alongside Rickie Fowler. Like Fowler, Wolff is an Oklahoma State graduate with a unique swing that generates a lot of power and has already shown that he is going to be a factor for years to come having holed a spectacular eagle putt on the final hole to win on only his fourth start as a professional at the 3M Open last year. Just behind Wolff that day was Collin Morikawa, who had also already won on the PGA Tour for the first time two starts previous to that at the Barracuda Championsip last year. Deadly accurate with his irons, Morikawa is the slightly less talked about up-and-comer who could make the biggest impact on the golf world this season.
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