2019 Charles Schwab Challenge Odds, Preview, and Prediction

The Charles Schwab Challenge is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually in May of each year since 1946. It is one of only five PGA Tour tournaments that are given “invitational” status. The tournament used to be called the Fort Worth Invitational because it is played at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

This year’ tournament is the 73rd edition of the event and the first time (of four years) that it will be named after sponsor Charles Schwab Corporation. The competition will run from May 23-26, 2019.

Last year, Justin Rose made his first appearance at Colonial since 2010, ending an eight-year absence in order to fulfill a tour requirement in a tournament he had not played in during the last four years. Rose won the title, unexpectedly, and got what was then his second win of the season and ninth win on the tour, tying Nick Faldo for most wins by an Englishman on the tour.

Rose had a masterful outing, as he had no round worse than 66. The Englishman closed out with a six under 64 to hold-off the challenge of Brooks Koepka who produced a closing round of 63. Koepka was then only making his third start after suffering a wrist injury.

The field for the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge is nearly finalized with the passing of the Friday deadline for entries. This year’s field is headlined by world number two Justin Rose, number seven Francesco Molinari, #11 Jon Rahm and #39 Jordan Spieth. Here are the betting odds to win the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge. Odds taken from bet365 as of 5/20/19:

Who Are The Favorites?

Jon Rahm is the co-betting favorite for the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge despite missing the cut during the recently concluded 2019 PGA Championship. The 11th ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings had three Top 10 finishes before his debacle at Bethpage Black. Rahm was a T6 at the Valspar Championship, T9 at the Masters in Augusta and then won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans just before heading to the PGA Championship. In 12 tournaments played this year, Rahm finished in the Top 25 eleven times and these include eight in the Top 10.

Justin Rose is the defending champion in this tournament and he returns to Colonial to defend his title. Rose is just the second among the last 10 winners of the Charles Schwab Challenge to close out a 54-hole lead. This year, Rose has played in a total of eight tournaments and he has 5 Top 10 finishes which include two third place finishes and a victory at the Farmers Insurance Open last January. Rose finished T8 in THE PLAYERS Championship, T9 in the WGC- Dell Match Play and third in the Wells Fargo Championship. He was a  T29 in his last start at the 2019 PGA Championship.

Rickie Fowler is coming off two Top 10 finishes in his last three starts. Before his most recent T36 finish at the PGA Championships, Fowler earned a T9 at the 2019 Masters in Augusta and then followed that up with a T4 outing at the Wells Fargo Championship. Fowler was also T2 at the Honda Classic and won the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year. Aside from being ranked 10th in the Official World Golf Rankings, he is also #7 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Jordan Spieth is having a slump in 2019. The world’s 39th ranked golfer has played in a total of 12 tournaments in 2019 and has only three Top-25 finishes so far while being cut in three of those tournaments. However, the 25-year old University of Texas product is coming off his best outing of the year, a T3 finish at the 2019 PGA Championship.

Xander Schauffele won the WGC- HSBC Champions last October and then won his first tournament of 2019 by topping the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. Since then, he had three Top 15 finishes plus a T2 at the 2019 Masters in Augusta. The 25-year old San Diego State University product is coming off a T16 effort at the 2019 PGA Championship which was won by Brooks Koepka.

Francesco Molinari is the second-highest ranked golfer in the field. The 36-year old from Turin in Italy was on a hot streak before his last two tournaments. Molinari won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last March, finished third in the WGC-Dell Match Play and then 5th in the Masters in Augusta. However, in his last two tournaments, he didn’t make the cut at the RBC Heritage last month and was just a T48 at the recently concluded 2019 PGA Championship.

Bryson DeChambeau and Rickie Fowler give the 2019 Charles Schwab Classic 24 out of the Top 30 golfers in the FedEx Standings. DeChambeau played college golf at SMU which is just on the other side of the Metroplex.  The 25 year old from Modesto, California began the season having six consecutive Top 15 finishes dating back to the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in November 2018. However, he has struggled since then. DeChambeau has missed the cut in his last two tournaments joined including the PGA Championship.

Who Wins?

When you look at the field, Justin Rose is the betting favorite to win this tournament because he is the highest ranked golfer entered in the tournament. Francesco Molinari is next in the rankings, followed by Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler. When you look at the recent form of these Top 10 golfers, Schauffele placed the highest in the recently concluded PGA Championship at T16.

But when you look at the entire field, note that it’s #39 Jordan Spieth who finished the highest in the PGA Championship at T3. Spieth didn’t have a Top 10 finish this year before his T3 at Bethpage Black. That performance could signal the end of a slump for the three-time Major winner and 2015 FedEx Cup champion. I like Spieth to be my darkhorse pick for this tournament.

I’m not going to blame you for backing Justin Rose. He’s not just the highest-ranked golfer entered in this tournament. He’s also one of the most consistent so far since the start of 2019. As for my bet to win, I’m backing Xander Schauffele who is coming off a T-16 at the PGA Championship and was a T2 at the Masters in Augusta. The guy is playing well as of late and winning may be next for the 2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Prediction: Xander Schauffele

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