Charles Schwab Challenge Odds, Picks, and PGA Tour Preview: Loaded Field Starts US Open Prep

The PGA Championship is behind us but the 2022 U.S. Open is just three weeks away. In preparation, many of the PGA Tour’s biggest names tee it up at this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, and we have our top picks to win.

Justin Thomas leads the field to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, TX, for the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge fresh off his PGA Championship victory. Scottie Scheffler is among those hoping to return to form after missing the cut last week and Jason Kokrak hopes to defend his 2021 win in this event. With his victory last week, Thomas moved up to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) but Scheffler remains at No. 1.

The U.S. Open is set for June 16-19 at The Country Club in Brookline, MA. Next week is the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club and that tournament will draw another strong field ahead of the RBC Canadian Open.

On fire and coming to Colonial! Do you have your tickets? #charlesschwabchallenge pic.twitter.com/QbPXlgXxNf

— Charles Schwab Challenge (@CSChallengeFW) May 23, 2022

Here are my top outright picks for the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.

Charles Schwab Challenge Odds

SEE ALSO: U.S. Open Odds and Picks 2022

Charles Schwab Challenge Odds Analysis

Either Thomas or Scheffler is favored to win this week depending on your top sportsbook. Thomas has an implied win probability as high as 11.11% at DraftKings Sportsbook while Scheffler is being given a 9.09% chance of winning after missing the cut last week.

Among the big names near the top of the board, there’s quite a bit of discrepancy in the odds for Sam Burns and Daniel Berger. Their most profitable prices can be found at DraftKings and FanDuel Sportsbook, respectively. Kokrak has odds as high as +4800 at FanDuel in defense of his title.

Sungjae Im and Bryson DeChambeau are tentatively scheduled to return to tournament play this week after sitting out the PGA Championship. Im has odds of +3500 at DraftKings and Caesars Sportsbook and DeChambeau is a +10000 longshot at DraftKings.

Colonial Country Club Course Profile

Par: 70
Length: 7,209 yards
Greens: Bentgrass

Designed by Perry Maxwell and John Bredemus, Colonial Country Club is a long-time host of the PGA Tour. The 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge will be the 77th running of an event at this venue, which will undergo a Gil Hanse renovation after next year’s tournament. Last week’s venue, Southern Hills in Tulsa, OK, was also predominantly designed by Maxwell.

The fairways at Colonial are extremely narrow and tight. Since they’re so tight and often force the driver out of the hands of the longest hitters, we actually don’t need to worry too much about driving statistics. This is a second-shot course but with added emphasis on short-game play. Only three of the 13 golfers to finish T-8 or better last year averaged more than 300 yards per drive.

Eight holes played below par last year with Kokrak winning the tournament at -14 and five other players shooting -10 or better over 72 holes. Two of the four par 3s — both playing shorter than 200 yards — played under par in 2021. Only three par 4s played below par. The par 4s range from 387 to 483 yards with the most common range being 400 to 450 yards.

Charles Schwab Challenge Key Stats

• Strokes gained: approach
• SG: around-the-green
• Driving accuracy
• Par 4 efficiency: 400-450 yards
• Scrambling
• Bogey avoidance

With the course layout largely neutralizing play off the tee, we’re focusing on the approach and short games, while also factoring in escapability in terms of scrambling and bogey avoidance with trouble inevitable. While Kokrak led last year’s field with 1.54 SG: off-the-tee per round, he was the only one of the top-20 finishers who gained more than 0.70 strokes per round in that area.

Jordan Spieth, who finished alone in second last year and has four top-10 finishes in his last five appearances at Colonial, leads this field with 2.63 total strokes gained per round across 36 total rounds at this venue. Collin Morikawa, who finished second in 2020 and T-14 last year, is averaging 2.60 strokes gained across his eight rounds played here. Twenty-eight members of this field are making their tournament debut at Colonial this week.

Charles Schwab Challenge Picks

• Sungjae Im (+3500 via Caesars)
• Abraham Ancer (+4000 via DraftKings)
• Tom Hoge (+7000 via DraftKings)
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+10000 via FanDuel)

Who Will Win the Charles Schwab Challenge

Im (+3500)

There isn't any concern of re-injury for Im this week as he was forced to withdraw from the PGA Championship after testing positive for COVID-19 while playing an event in South Korea. Sportsbooks like FanDuel lowered his odds throughout the day on Monday, but we're still getting a fine number at DraftKings and Caesars.

Im has three top-10 finishes against just two missed cuts through 11 events this year. He tied for eighth in the Masters and for 21st at the ensuing RBC Heritage and hasn't played since. He has a weird history at Colonial with missed cuts in 2019 and 2021 bracketing a T-10 finish in 2020. However, he enters this year's tournament in better form and as a strong course fit. Im is gaining strokes in all key statistical areas, while also ranking 40th in driving accuracy, sixth in par 4 efficiency: 400-450 yards, and third in scrambling and bogey avoidance.

Take the inflated odds for the 23rd-ranked golfer in the world after he missed last week's event.

Check out our top-rated sportsbooks here

Ancer (+4000)

Abraham Ancer moved back to 19th in the OWGR with a T-9 finish at Southern Hills last week. He struggled around the greens with 0.31 strokes lost per round, but his iron play and putting were sharp. He made the cut in four consecutive appearances at this event, including back-to-back T-14 finishes the last two years.

Ancer is third on Tour in driving accuracy, and 86th or better in par 4 efficiency, scrambling, and bogey avoidance. His odds to win the Charles Schwab Challenge are as low as +3200 at FanDuel, so we're getting good value at DraftKings.

Hoge (+7000)

Amazing week at the #PGAChamp. Got my first top 10 in a major! Now back home to get ready for the @CSChallengeFW pic.twitter.com/b0dTDSfVQs

— Tom Hoge (@HogeGolf) May 22, 2022

Tom Hoge got his first career PGA Tour win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year and he moved to a career-best No. 37 in the OWGR with a T-9 finish at the PGA Championship. He was third in last week's field with 1.97 SG: approach per round at Southern Hills. He also gained strokes around the greens and 1.16 strokes per round with the putter.

Hoge's only struggle area last week was with the driver, but he's 73rd on Tour this season in driving accuracy. He's also 21st in par 4 efficiency from our key distance, seventh in scrambling, and 15th in bogey avoidance.

DraftKings is offering an outlier number on Hoge to win this week. He's as low as +5000 at BetMGM.

Bezuidenhout (+10000)

FanDuel is offering +10000 odds on Christiaan Bezuidenhout to win this week, while DraftKings has market-low odds of +6000. The South African slipped to 71st in the world rankings with a missed cut last week, but that snapped a stretch of five straight weekend appearances in strokeplay events. His T-12 finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson two weeks ago was his best result of the year.

Bezuidenhout missed the cut at the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge in his only appearance at Colonial CC to date. He comes into this year's event in stronger form while gaining strokes in all key areas and ranking sixth in scrambling and 31st in driving accuracy.

Where to Bet on the PGA Tour

Here are our top-rated sportsbooks:

• FanDuel Sportsbook
• Caesars Sportsbook
• DraftKings Sportsbook
• PointsBet
• BetMGM

SEE ALSO: All picks, odds, and sports betting news. Be sure to check out SportsbookReview.com’s community forums and betting tools.

Charles Schwab Challenge picks made on 5/23/2022 at 8 p.m. ET.

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