Charles Schwab Challenge: Timing is Right for Spieth

• Famed Colonial County plays host once more
• World No. 14 Sam Burns is the defending champion 
• Only Ben Hogan has won the event in back-to-back years

Charles Schwab Challenge Odds

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Charles Schwab Challenge Picks and Predictions

• Jordan Spieth for the win at +1400 with BetMGM
• Chris Kirk to beat Si Woo Kim over 72 holes at -125 with bet365
• Sepp Straka for a Top 20 at +320 with bet365

Check out the best online betting sites for golf!

Colonial Country Club Course Notes

• Colonial Country Club is a par 70 measuring 7,209 yards
• Ben Hogan won here five times and is the only man to defend
• It was designed by John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell
• The course features small, fast Bentgrass greens
• The club will undergo a $20m renovation after this week’s event
• Sam Burns beat Scottie Scheffler in a playoff last year

Favorites to Win the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge

Scottie Scheffler (+400)

Scheffler comes in off-tied second at the PGA Championship where he finished two back from winner Brooks Koepka. He also had to settle for the runners-up spot in this event last year when battling strong winds, he could only manage a closing 2-over 72. Remarkably, Scheffler hasn’t finished outside the top 12 in 11-strokeplay starts in 2023.

Jordan Spieth (+1400)

Spieth is the tournament’s all-time earnings leader after a win (2016) and three-second places (2015, 2017, and 2022). Oh, there are four other top 10s too. He had injury doubts hanging over him at Oak Hill last week but shook those off and shot lower each day to finish tied 29th.

Tony Finau (+1400)

Finau had a run in round two but was disappointed at the PGA, finishing way down in 72nd. There are obvious pluses though. He was a winner in Mexico three starts ago and has a perfect 7-for-7 slate here. That includes second place in 2019 and fourth last year. Finau also won the Houston Open on his penultimate start in the Lone Star State.    

Spieth Can Strike 

Not every golfer has the focus to perform at his best on either side of a Major.

But Jordan Spieth has shown a remarkable ability to hit the heights in tournaments where other elite players may be just a little distracted.

Spieth showed that when winning the RBC Heritage the week after the 2022 Masters and he did it again last month by taking runner-up there seven days on from a grueling 72 holes at Augusta National.

The three-time Major champion also won the 2017 Travelers Championship the week after a missed cut in the US Open and then of course we have his record in this event.

Spieth was runner-up here at Colonial in 2021 the week after he’d posted tied 30th at the PGA Championship so hopefully he can improve that finish by one having taken tied 29th at Oak Hill on Sunday.

Flick through that list of two-time winners at Colonial Country Club and the vast majority are Major champions while the most recent - Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson - have both won the Masters green jacket.

The omens look good for Spieth and the Texas golfer will be extra determined to add to his stunning record in this event having had to pull out of his other local tournament - the Byron Nelson - with injury. 

That problem appears to have cleared up so back Spieth for the win at +1400 with BetMGM.    

Kirk to Outscore Kim

It’s not often that a match features such a discrepancy between the two players’ course form.

But that’s absolutely the case in bet365’s 72-hole showdown between Chris Kirk and Si Woo Kim.

Kirk won this event in 2015 and has pieced together six other top 15s, the latest coming 12 months ago.

Contrast that to Kim whose Colonial course form starting from 2016 reads: MC-MC-66-MC-MC-WD.

Kim’s current form deserves more respect and, despite an early exit in the PGA Championship, he’d finished runner-up at the Byron Nelson the week prior. 

But Kirk holds the aces here. He’s made the top 30 in both 2023 Majors so far and that sets him up for another strong week at Colonial, a place he’s described as his “favorite course”. 

Straka to Land Top 10

Sepp Straka struck it beautifully at the PGA Championship and ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained: Approach.

That helped the Austrian finish in a tie for seventh, his best result since a top-five at February’s Honda Classic.

Straka posted tied 22nd at the Texas Open last month so, on last week’s display, looks well worth a bet to make the top 20 here at +320 with bet365.

True, he’s missed the cut in both starts at Colonial but Straka opened with 66 in 2020 and 68 in 2021 so can clearly score on this track.  

He also owns a couple of top fives in the Houston Open. 

How to Watch the Charles Schwab Challenge

• Tournament: Charles Schwab Challenge
• Location: Colonial Country Club, Forth Worth, TX
• Date: THURSDAY MAY 25 - SUNDAY MAY 28
• How to watch: THURSDAY-FRIDAY 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). SATURDAY-SUNDAY 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). And all four days on Sky Sports.