KSR Golf: Charles Schwab Challenge

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Who doesn’t love a golf tournament that gives out a jacket to the winner?

A week after a thrilling PGA Championship in South Carolina, the PGA Tour will be jumping back over to Texas for the third tournament of the season in the Lonestar State. Despite the major championship hangover floating around, this will be a field that has plenty of star power with the U.S. Open arriving at Torrey Pines in just a couple of weeks.

This should be a fun weekend down in Fort Worth, Texas, at Colonial Country Club where this course will play host to a PGA Tour event for the 76th time. With over 120 players in the field, there should be some opportunities to find some value on the board.

Let’s find the best golf plays of the week.

Course layout

Compared to some of the recent stops on the tour, Colonial is a short track. The Par 70 layout stretches out to 7,209 yards but length off the tee will not be a requirement this weekend. The Charles Schwab Challenge has a small runway with tight fairways and small greens.

Similar to many courses in Texas, winds can play a big factor on the players. If whipping, golfers can struggle and low scores might be difficult to post. However, that should not be the case at Colonial after the first day. With nine Par 4s coming in at less than 450 yards, bombers from the tee will not have a significant advantage over the field.

This is a wide-open tournament that many people can compete in. A hot putter or an on-fire ball-striker can bring home the hardware. That makes handicapping this one pretty difficult.

Advanced Stat of the Week

Due to the lack of length from tee-to-green to go along with many small greens, one metric sticks out this week. Strokes gained approach is the one to watch out for, but don’t sleep on strokes gained putting.

Collin Morikawa leads all players on the tour in strokes gained approach. The young golfer is fresh off a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship and played well at Colonial last season losing to Daniel Berger in a playoff. Once again, Morikawa should compete for a victory.

Will Zalatoris sits at No. 2 in approach and continues to play well. It feels like a matter of time before the rookie enters the winner’s circle. At Draft Kings, Zalatoris sits at 25/1 making him someone to consider. Justin Thomas is the No. 2 favorite behind Jordan Spieth this week and the No. 3 ranking in approach is a big reason why.

This is a low-key loaded field with plenty of players that fit the model. However, a hot putter may be what separates the pretenders from contenders.

Luckett’s Locks

Joaquin Niemann has played in 17 tournaments this season and he has yet to miss the cut. The 22-year-old from Chile ranks 29th in the world and has two runner-up finishes this season to go along with four top 10s. It’s only a matter of time before he earns a victory. Ranking in the top-25 in strokes gained approach and putting, Niemann fits the model that we should all be looking for. At +2650 to win, this will be a nice payday.

Daniel Berger is the defending champion and once again played well in Texas finishing T-3 just a couple of weeks ago at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Ranking in the top-30 in both approach and putting, Berger should find himself in contention this weekend. Lock him in at +225 to finish in the top-10.

Yeah, this feels like the time to fade Phil Mickelson coming off of that epic performance. Go ahead and lock in Brandt Snedeker (-125) in the matchup. Kevin Streelman might as well join us on the fade train. Despite a strong major performance, Streelman has only made the cut in half of his tournaments played this season. Lock in a +200 play for Streelman to miss the cut.