With the 2nd Major in the rear view mirror we head to the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge next on the schedule at the historic Colonial Country Club.

Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas is one of the longest-tenured courses on tour; hosting since 1946. Only Augusta National has been on the schedule longer.

Last year Davis Riley won by five shots over Scottie Scheffler with a score of 14 under. The five shot win was impressive especially considering he only shot even par on Sunday. Riley was incredible with his irons gaining just under eight strokes on approach.

In 2023 Emiliano Grillo won in a playoff over Adam Schenk. Scottie Scheffler was again towards the top of the leaderboard finishing in 3rd place. Max Homa also finished top 10.

In 2022 Sam Burns shot a 65 on Sunday and drilled a long putt to edge out Scottie Scheffler in a playoff to win. Scheffler shot a disappointing 72 in the final round relinquishing the lead. Tony Finau and Jordan Spieth were the other notable names to finish top ten.

Colonial underwent a restoration project prior to last year’s tournament. The course was slightly shortened with changes to some tee boxes and sight lines. The greens have also been restored. Ultimately the changes shouldn’t have a huge impact on how the course plays.

The course is a par 70 measuring 7,289 yards with small Bentgrass greens, it plays to a wide range of skill sets and we’ve seen that in the previous winners.

Much of Colonial’s yardage comes from the 635 yard par five 11th hole and the 247 yard par three 4th hole. There are two par fives, four par threes and 12 par fours.

The starting holes at Colonial are relatively easy before getting into the intricacies of the course. The opening hole is one of the two par fives and also the easiest hole on the course. The 2nd hole is a 390 yard par four and plays as the 2nd easiest hole. There are five Par fours measuring 400-450 yards and five from 450-500 yards.

Hitting fairways and good approach shots are the preferred ways to attack Colonial. Distance can help but isn’t a necessity. Driving accuracy is lower than tour average with just 57% of fairways hit. Driving distance is lower as well, coming in at an average of 277 yards. Accuracy over distance is the optimal strategy this week.

There is a strong correlation between top 10 finishers here and strokes gained approach. Approach shots from 150-175 yards make up 25% of all approach shots. With another 20% coming from 125-150 yards.

Ultimately, ball striking, accuracy, and putting is what leads to success.
Colonial boasts some of the smaller greens on tour with greens in regulation percentage coming in at 65%. This will lead to golfers relying on their around-the-green game and scrambling. It will be even more necessary if the winds pick up. Fortunately Scrambling is a bit easier around Colonial compared to tour average. There could be numerous shots from around the green but they shouldn’t be all that difficult.

The field consists of 136 golfers with the Top 65 and ties making the cut after 36 holes to play the weekend

2025 Charles Schwab Challenge: The Key Stats

• Approach
• Approaches from 150-175 yards
• Opportunities Gained
• Fairways Gained
• Par 4 Scoring: 400-500yards

Charles Schwab Challenge Historical Cut Line

• 2024: +3
• 2023: +2
• 2022: +2
• 2021: +2
• 2020: -1

Previous Winners

2014: Davis Riley -14
2023: Emiliano Grillo -8
2022: Sam Burns -9
2021: Jason Kokrak -14
2020: Daniel Berger -15

Golfers to Consider

Daniel Berger

Berger has been playing much more like his prior self since coming back from injury. He’s made nine straight cuts and has gained strokes off the tee in all but one of those tournaments. Over the last 24 rounds he’s 7th in strokes gained approach, 9th in opportunities gained, 12th in fairways gained and 4th in par 4 scoring.

Berger won at Colonial back in 2020 defeating Collin Morikawa in a playoff. He shot 67 or better in every round. Berger has gained strokes tee to green in all six appearances at Colonial Country Club.

Aaron Rai

While Rai’s results haven’t been outstanding at Colonial,  they have been pretty good. He’s made the cut in all three appearances and finished 12th here in 2023. He’s gained 7.9 and 8.2 strokes tee to green the last two years.

Rai has gained strokes off the tee in seven straight tournaments. While off the tee is not incredibly important here the way that Rai does it is. He’s 2nd in fairways gained which goes a long way at Colonial. He also thrives in some other areas that are needed here. Overall the last 24 rounds he’s 2nd in par four scoring and 12th from 150-175 yards.

Andrew Novak

Novak has really elevated himself into a different tier of golfer this year. He has six finishes of 17th or better including three top-3 finishes. He also won the Team event at the Zurich. He’s finished 17th, 3rd and 2nd in the three tournaments leading up to the PGA Championship. He’s gained strokes on approach in five of his last six tournaments.

With smaller greens complexes at Colonial golfers will need to rely on their around the green play. Novak ranks 11th in that metric over the last 24 rounds. He’s also 16th in bogey avoidance and top-25 in putting from 5-10 feet and off the tee.