This Week on Tour and Quick Recap from TPC Craig Ranch
The Charles Schwab Challenge brings the PGA Tour back to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, TX for the 80th time. First round play begins Thursday, May 28 and runs through Sunday, May 31.
Last week, Wyndham Clark came from behind to win THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch with a -11 low score 60, finishing -30 and beating Si Woo Kim by three while pulling away from Scottie Scheffler at the same time. Clark became the first PGA Tour player to win twice with a closing 60.
And yes, Scheffler had a rare spicy-camera moment during Sunday’s final round when his tee shot on the 487-yard par 4 13th sailed left, and he drove his driver into the tee box. Forget that he’s been in the money, very good money, in every one of his eleven 2026 events. He’s a competitor and at his level, not being No. 1 is losing. Doesn’t excuse the display, but give him a little grace with the pressure he’s clearly putting on himself.
The Setup: Tournament Stakes, Field, and Storylines
The headline is depth without the usual Scottie and Rory shadow. Ludvig Aberg, Russell Henley, Justin Thomas, Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Akshay Bhatia, Keegan Bradley, J.J. Spaun, Tony Finau, Max Homa, Sungjae Im, Gary Woodland, and Tom Kim are the names that give this board juice. Clark withdrew after a job well done with the Byron Nelson win, with Lanto Griffin taking his spot. Brooks Koepka also withdrew after finishing T14 at the Byron Nelson.
The three storylines are clean. First, Ben Griffin defends at a course that rarely gives repeat performances. Second, Aberg is the favorite in his Colonial debut, which is a fun little market stress test. Third, the Scheffler absence changes the math as usual, but with a different player breaking through almost every week, the path to the top feels unusually open.
The Course: What It Demands and What It Punishes
Colonial is a John Bredemus/Perry Maxwell design, listed as a par 70, 7,289-yard course with Bermudagrass fairways and roughs and Bermudagrass/Ryegrass greens. It has hosted this event since May of 1946, claiming to be the longest-running PGA Tour tournament.
The 132-player field will be cut to a top-65 and ties after two rounds. The course demands players shape tee shots around several doglegs, control spin into smaller greens, and stay patient when birdies do not arrive in bulk. Translation: this is a positional ball-striker week. Distance helps, but crooked distance goes to jail.
Who Fits Here: Player Archetypes and Names to Know
I want players who can live in fairways, hit mid-irons under pressure, and avoid the emotional trap of forcing birdies on a course that has teeth.
Henley fits the Colonial template because accuracy and disciplined approach play are what wins here.
Fowler is interesting because recent form and historical comfort meet at the same intersection. Sports Illustrated’s betting panel pointed to Fowler’s run of T8, T9, and T2 before the PGA Championship and noted his driving accuracy as a Colonial fit.
Griffin may bring defending champion confidence without needing to overpower the place, but he still has to rise above 2026 performance to date, see Betting Board banter below.
Betting Board: Odds, Angles, and Smart Plays
At FanDuel, the outright board shows Ludvig Aberg +850, Justin Thomas +2000, Russell Henley +2000, Rickie Fowler, Robert MacIntyre, and Ben Griffin all at +2500, and J.J. Spaun, Alex Smalley, and Hideki Matsuyama all at +3000 accessed May 27 at 9:09 a.m. ET.
Late odds at DraftKings on Wednesday, May 27 for the outright board showed Aberg +950, Henley +2000, Thomas and Fowler +2300, MacIntyre +2450, Griffin +2600, Spaun +3100, Matsuyama +3100, Smalley +3300, Akshay Bhatia +3400, and Keegan Bradley +3600.
Want better odds but less of a payout? Try a Top 10 bet with a similar trajectory with Aberg +114, Henley +184, Thomas +230, Fowler +215, MacIntyre +225, Griffin +240, Spaun and Matsuyama +270, Smalley +290, Akshay Bhatia +305, and Keegan Bradley +310.
Despite Griffin being the returning champion here, I’m taking a long look at Alex Smalley for this one. He’s been close and contending for the better part of the last two months with two T2 finishes (Zurich and the PGA Championship) in the last four events. He’s due.
Griffin has had only two Top 10 finishes and while early play was shaky with three consecutive cuts, he has tightened it up in his last four events.
One and Done / Season-Long Strategy
For One and Done, Henley is my preferred balance of safety and upside. Aberg has more ceiling, but Colonial can turn debut chalk into a sweatbox. Fowler is the leverage play if your pool is chasing.
What I’m Watching When the First Tee Shot Flies
I’m watching who controls the par 4s without getting greedy. Colonial is one of those courses that exposes impatience. The winner will not need the loudest driver. He’ll need the quietest bogey card.
The Takeaway
Colonial is a grown-up golf test: narrow, historic, and just rude enough to be charming. Bet on fairways, clean irons, patience, and a leaderboard that could still get weird late Sunday.
Next week, the TOUR heads north to Dublin, OH and Muirfield Village Golf Club, host to the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, also a Signature Event with $20M at stake. Expect the difficulty to dial up, and Scheffler to have a chance at defending last year’s $4M paycheck by finally breaking out of the top three “slump.”
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