PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge
We do a lot of DFS site specific coverage here at FantasyCPR, so in an effort to bring in new golf fans, and look at Fantasy Golf as a whole, I am excited to bring you my PGA Power Rankings for this weeks Charles Schwab Challenge, being held at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
This PGA Power Rankings article will cover the top 20 golfers for this event, and with each golfer will come a short blurb with some justification to their respective rankings. Before we do that, let’s touch briefly on the history of the this event.
PGA Power Rankings: Charles Schwab Challenge – Course and History
After a fairly lackluster Sunday in which scoring was tough at Bethpage, Brooks Koepka was able to hold off a surging Dustin Johnson to capture his fourth major championship as champion of the 101st PGA Championship. The PGA Tour heads back to Texas this week, as we have a surprisingly pretty solid field for an event after a major.
While this is the first year known as the Charles Schwab Challenge, this tournament dates back to 1946, when it was known as the Colonial National Invitational until the sponsorship age finally caught up here, and Southwestern Bell became the first sponsor in 1989. This event has changed hands in that sense many times since, more recently known as the Dean & DeLuca Invitational in 2016 and 2017, and last year as the Fort Worth Invitational.
One constant for the Charles Schwab Challenge is the venue, as it has taken place at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas since its inception. A par 70 at 7209 yards, Colonial has just two par-fives, with the 11th hole being a monster at 635 yards. There are also four par-threes with three being just under 200 yards and a long one at the fourth hole at 247. The course is dogleg heavy with tight fairways, and has bentgrass greens. 61 is the scoring record here held by seven professionals, so those precise with the irons this week should be really good shape.
Finally, The Charles Schwab Challenge is one of the five invitational events on tour, so we will see a reduced field of 125. We have a surprisingly fair amount of the top players in the world coming to Texas after the PGA Championship in New York, and that group will be headlined by last years Fort Worth Invitational champion Justin Rose, who will be back to defend his three stroke victory. Xander Schauffele and Francesco Molinari will join him, along with Bryson DeChambeau and Rickie Fowler. Without further ado, let’s get to this week’s PGA Power Rankings!
PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge
***The following golfers are my top 20 overall. Each golfer will be followed by their official golf world ranking (OGWR) in parenthesis.***
20. Jim Furyk – (51)
It was close at number 20 this week, as we have a solid group of mid-tier golfers teeing it up this week at Colonial. I spent my most time on these rankings on numbers 18-23, and it really could go any which way, as it was very, very close in the end. Ultimately, the 49-year-old Jim Furyk came out in this spot, and although he has hit a bit of a funk missing two straight cuts, his overall body of work in 2019 leads him to this spot.
As far as history in this event at Colonial Country Club, Furyk has played eight times over the last 10 years. He T-66 here finishing at even par last year, and his best finish was a solo fourth place back in 2012. Overall in this span, he has missed two cuts here, and has two top-tens.
I guess I should not leave those curious hanging before moving on. Joaquin Niemann is close at number 24 this week. His current form could be better, but he did T-8 here last year in his debut. Zach Johnson, Benny An, and Tyrell Hatton are all in the mix as well.
19. Graeme McDowell – (115)
This will be McDowell’s second appearance at Colonial this week, as he T-29 at the 2017 Dean & DeLuca Invitational, as this tournament was known as at that time. He cracked the top-30 in last weeks PGA Championship with a T-29 finish, which was pretty impressive after taking a few weeks off since after his T-48 at the RBC Heritage.
The overall body of work in 2019 is also pretty impressive, as McDowell has not missed a cut since the Mayakoba Golf Classic back in November of last year. He picked up a win at the Corales Championship the same week as the WGC-Mexico Championship, and followed that with a T-7 at the Valero Texas Open. In nine events total in 2019, McDowell has three top-20’s, and again, has not missed a cut.
18. Matthew Fitzpatrick – (33)
More European flavor here in Texas this week, as 24-year-old Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick will make his first appearance here at Colonial. Having won five European Tour events already in his young career, Fitzpatrick is still seeking his first win on the PGA Tour. He came up just short at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing two strokes behind Francesco Molinari, who put on a memorable show with his 64 on Sunday, for his best finish on this side of the pond to date.
Fitzpatrick has gone seven straight tournaments without missing a cut, but other than his second place at Bay Hill there really hasn’t been much to write home about. His best finish since was his T-21 at Augusta National, and he T-41 at the PGA Championship last weekend. Fitzpatrick is also the 2013 U.S Amateur champ, and despite his best success coming on the European Tour thus far in his professional career, the more he plays here, the more he will contend.
17. Jason Kokrak – (65)
We all keep waiting for Kokrak to slow down, as his current stretch seems to be baffling the DFS Golf twitter community. However, he kept it going once again last week at Bethpage, much to the dismay to those who said this was the week he could not get it done. He didn’t shoot below 70 in any of his four rounds, but his +4 finish was still good for a T-23 finish.
You have to go all the way back the 147th Open Championship last year to find Kokrak’s last missed cut. His consistency in 2019 has been incredible, and he has easily been one of the most surprising golfers this season up to this point. He started 2019 with an OWGR ranking of 129, and in his 11 events this season he has finished outside of the top-25 just three times. With T-2 at the Valspar Championship and three additional top-tens to boot, Kokrak has worked ranking up to number 65 in the world.
16. Ian Poulter – (29)
Poulter is another veteran golfer having a tremendous 2019 up to this point. He is coming into Colonial off of his first missed cut of the year last week at the PGA Championship. His worst finish in 2019 prior to the missed cut was his T-56 at the Players Championship, and other than that, Poulter has been fantastic. In 12 events total, Poulter has finished inside the top-20 eight times, with five top-tens mixed in along the way.
The 43-year-old has played this event just four times in the last ten years with mixed results. He has only missed one cut, and that was his last trip here back in 2016. His other bad finish was a 76th place in 2010. On the good side, Poulter has two top-tens, with a T-5 in 2015, and a T-8 way back in 2009.
PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge
15. Scott Piercy – (66)
Moving into the top-15, we have another veteran golfer who is playing very well overall in 2019. and extremely well as of late. Scott Piercy has had an even further rise up the OWGR chart in 2019 than Kokrak, who we just discussed on the last slide. He ended 2018 at 152, and currently sits at 66. Most of the movement came the last couple events he played before the PGA Championship, when he notched back-to-back top fives at the AT&T Byron Nelson and the RBC Heritage.
Piercy has played eleven events in 2019, has missed just one cut, and he comes back to Texas off of a T-41 at the PGA Championship last week. He has three top-tens, and has also added an additional two top-20’s. He has played this event five times in the last six years, and although he missed the cut last year, it was the only time in that span. His best finish was at the 2017 version of the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he finished T-7 at 6-under par.
14. Emiliano Grillo – (63)
We have not heard much from Grillo this season, as his best finish in 2019 so far is his T-22 at the Sony Open way back in January. He has played nine events total not counting the WGC-Dell Match Play, and he has quietly only missed one cut, despite no good finishes. He comes into the Charles Schwab Challenge with great history here at Colonial Country Club, and off of a solid T-23 at the PGA Championship last weekend, which was obviously his best finish since that T-22 back in January.
This will be Grillo’s fourth crack at Colonial Country Club, and he has improved in each finish each year, and has not missed a cut. He T-55 in 2016 in his first test, then followed that with a T-24 in 2017. Last year, he was lights out on the greens, but ultimately came up short of Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka, and had to settle for solo third place finish at 16-under par.
13. Brandt Snedeker – (47)
Another veteran, the 38-year-old Snedeker is another course horse at Colonial, having not missed a cut here in seven tries over the last ten years. Formerly ranked as high as fourth in the world, Snedeker only has two top-tens since his last victory which came at the Wyndham Championship last year, but he has been consistent, missing just two cuts since then. He did miss the cut at the Masters, but followed it with a T-48 at the RBC Heritage, and a T-16 at the PGA Championship last week.
It was 2015 when Sneds came close at Colonial, as he tied with Jordan Spieth and Jason Bohn for second place at 11-under par, finishing one stroke behind champion Chris Kirk. He added two additional top-tens in 2011 and 2016 as well.
12. Louis Oosthuizen – (20)
36-year-old South African Louis Oosthuizen comes in at number 12 this week, off of what was looking to be a promising finish at the PGA Championship, but eventually turned into disaster. Oosthuizen went into the weekend at 2-under, far behind Brooks of course, but off of decent opening rounds of 70 and 68. A 79 in the windy, tough conditions on Sunday are what led to the poor T-60 finish, as basically everyone besides Dustin Johnson struggled it seemed.
Oosty has now played five straight tournaments on the PGA Tour including the two major championships, and missed one cut in that span. His best finish came at the Valspar Championship, where he T-2. He has played this event five times in the last seven years, and his best finish was last year, as he shot 10-under and T-6. He has missed one cut, and also withdrawn once , back in 2016.
11. Rory Sabbatini – (137)
As 2019 seems to be the year of the resurging veterans, add Sabbatini to the list of 40-somethings who are playing great golf as of late. He hadn’t done much on tour for a solid year, but after back-to-back missed cuts at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and Pebble Beach, something seemed to click.
Since then he has gone eight straight tournaments without missing a cut, and finished no worse than T-39. He is getting closer and closer to qualifying for majors again, and he comes into Colonial off of three straight top-tens, and a T-5 at the AT&T Byron Nelson in his last action. He has played this event nine times in the last 10 years, and it is pretty much another mixed bag.
Sabbatini’s best finish here came in 2015 when he T-10. He has missed the cut three times, and finished inside the top-20 three times as well. Last year, the other Rory finished 6-under par, good for a T-20.
PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge
10. Kevin Kisner – (27)
We move into the top-ten, and we have quite the crew rounding it out surprisingly for the week after a major. Other than a couple of other big names still to come, Kevin Kisner has arguably some of the best course history here of any. He won the Dean & DeLuca Invitational here in 2017, and that was to cap a stretch of three straight top-tens at Colonial from 2015-2017. Kisner struggled with the flat stick here last year though, and that led to a 3-under par T-52 finish.
After a solid stretch of finishing somewhere in the 20’s for almost ten weeks, Kisner has cooled off a little bit. He struggled at Bethpage and missed the cut, and tied for 41st in his previous action at the RBC Heritage. That is not to forget he did win the Dell-Match Play event not too long ago, but this guy is just a different animal in match-play. Despite the tough field, if Kisner can putt, he should be right in the mix.
9. Bryson DeChambeau – (8)
DeChambeau is getting closer and closer to getting bounced out of the top-ten at his current pace, as he comes into the Charles Schwab Challenge off of another missed cut at the PGA Championship. He had an equally bad outing three weeks prior in his last action at the RBC Heritage, and it is getting more and more obvious that something is just off with DeChambeau at this point.
This guy won four times from August to January, so he certainly has the goods to get it done, but he has only cracked the top-20 twice since the Genesis Open, where he T-15. His history here at the Colonial is not good either, as DeChambeau missed the cut in his first two tries in 2016 and 2017. He finally made the cut last year, but T-42 at 4-under par for the tournament.
8. Francesco Molinari – (7)
He is getting a little more love in rankings I have seen elsewhere, but I am going to go with the stats for once on this one. Being a fellow Italian, just by nationality I wasn’t born there or anything, Molinari is one of my personal favorites on tour, but other than his win at Bay Hill where he putt the lights out, Molinari’s style has not worked for the most part.
He did T-5 at Augusta, but his ability to hit tougher shots is what helped him along there. If he is precise off the tee and can set himself up well enough for his second shot on all of these doglegs, he should be in good shape. In other recent tournaments, Molinari missed the cut at the RBC Heritage, and T-48 last week at the PGA Championship. This will be the 36-year-olds first crack at Colonial Country Club.
7. Paul Casey – (13)
Going from a guy who is getting more love, to a guy who seems to be getting a lot less love, Paul Casey has been so hot or cold, everyone seems to be trying their best to figure out which Paul Casey will show up in Fort Worth this week. Other than last week at the 101st PGA Championship where he T-29, it seems Casey is either missing cuts, or right in contention sniffing victory.
In the following weeks after a missed cut at the Players Championship, Casey won the Valspar Championship, and T-4 at the Wells Fargo Championship. He missed a cut again at the Masters where he played memorably poorly, and he returns to Colonial this week having played this event five times in the last 10 years, with pretty good results.
Casey T-5 way back in 2009 for his best finish, and h a another top-ten in his last action here in 2017 with a T-10 finish. He did miss the cut in 2014, but T-13 in 2010 at 12-under par.
6. Tony Finau – (16)
Since we have talked a bit about relative rankings elsewhere this week, I think I may end up a little higher on Finau than most. Finau has missed just one cut in 2019, but the big top-ten finishes have just not been there. His best finish was his T-5 at the Masters, and with just two top-20’s other than the Masters since the Farmers Insurance Open, it is safe to say Finau is still not in the best form. Struggling on the weekend has been the theme for the most part, and it was no different in his last two times out.
Finau used the Wells Fargo Championship as his warm-up for the PGA Championship, but that went south pretty quick after a 72,74 weekend led to a T-60 finish. Bethpage was no different, as Finau struggled in the wind and shot a 79 on Sunday. He did not play this event last year, but did pretty well the three years prior.
His best finish was a T-19 in his first attempt in 2015, and he followed that with a T-34 in 2016. He bounced back a little in 2017 with a T-29, finishing at even par. Finau has always been a scorer, and this a scorers paradise. I think he makes some noise this week.
PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge
5. Xander Schauffele – (9)
As we get to the top-five this week, this was my other area where it was really, really close. It always comes down to a mix of course history and recent form for the most part, and that puts 25-year-old Xander Schauffele in the five spot. His form is solid as he was T-16 at the PGA Championship and T-2 at the Masters, giving him top-20’s in both majors, and other than his random missed cut at the Players Championship, Schauffele has been great all season long.
What brought him down to five as opposed to some others ahead of him, was his poor results in two previous tries here at Colonial. He T-48th at +3 in 2017, and missed the cut last year. I think Schauffele is a great golfer obviously who has a fantastic career ahead of him more likely than not, but this just does not look like the week for him due to the fact he has not played well here just yet.
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4. Jordan Spieth – (30)
I feel like this is going to be a major letdown, but I don’t want it to be. Spieth was all over the place off the tee still for the most part last week at the PGA Championship, but he finally looked like the best putter in the world once again. He said after interviews at the AT&T Byron Nelson where he T-29, that he felt better than he had with the putter in a long time, and from the few times I saw him, I didn’t really see that, so I thought he was losing his mind.
Clearly he was confident, and a confident Jordan Spieth can easily be a contender once again. He putt the lights out at Bethpage, and his T-3 finish was his best finish since his solo third place at the 2018 Masters. This is basically a home game here at Colonial as Spieth is from Dallas, and his course history is as good as it gets.
Spieth has played this event in each of the last six years, and has notched four top-tens total. He won here in 2016, and that was sandwiched between T-2’s in 2015 and 2017. Last year he finished 5-under par, and T-32 to end his hot streak here.
3. Jon Rahm – (11)
Jon Rahm does not miss cuts, and rarely finishes outside the top-20 in the couple of years the 24-year-old Spaniard has been on tour. However, a 75 on Friday at Bethpage left him at +5, and he missed the cut line at the PGA Championship by one stroke. It was his first missed cut since the Northern Trust last year.
In ten total events not counting the WGC-Dell Match Play tournaments, Rahm has finished inside the top ten an incredible seven times. Prior to the missed cut last week, Rahm T-9 at the Masters, and T-6 at the Valspar Championship in his most recent action.
It has only been two times, but Rahm has been great here at the Charles Schwab Challenge and Colonial Country Club. He T-2 in 2017 in his debut, and T-5 last year. I expect Rahm to bounce back strong after that missed cut at a course he, has succeeded at in the past.
2. Rickie Fowler – (10)
Rahm and Fowler were also really close, but Fowler will get the nod by a nose. After his brutal Sunday at the PGA Championship in which he struggled to a 77, Fowler ended up going from in the top-ten mix to a T-36 finish. However, if he can get off to a fast start here in Fort Worth, I think he will bounce back nicely. His history isn’t as good as some of the others here that round out the top-ten, but he did T-14 last year in his first trip back since 2014 when he missed the cut.
Fowler has a little better overall body of work in 2019 which gives him the slight bump this week. He won at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and came close again at the Honda Classic where he T-2. Prior to last week, Fowler was also solid, with a T-9 at the Masters, and a T-4 at the Wells Fargo Championship. I will be surprised if he wins this week, but I fully expect a top-five finish.
1. Justin Rose – (3)
For a minute there, I thought the defending Charles Schwab Challenge champion Justin Rose won it in his first crack here, but going back a little further, it looks like the 38-year-old Englishman did tee it up here way back in 2009 and 2010. Either way, Rose shot 20-under par here in 2018, and won by three strokes in pretty dominant fashion. Like almost everyone else, Rose struggled with Bethpage a bit, and a 75 on Sunday led to a T-29 finish.
Rose surprised many with his missed cut at the Masters, considering he T-8 at the Players Championship, and also made it to the round of 16 at the WGC-Dell Match Play tournament. He bounced-back well with a solo third place at the Wells Fargo Championship, but he did not look like one of the top players in the world last week at Bethpage. With a win here and the fact that he typically does well in these lesser known events, Rose is number one for me by a pretty wide gap this week.
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All info derived from Smart Golf Bets, along with Data Golf and OWGR. Much thanks to these free sources of information. Thanks again for reading, and good luck with your fantasy golf this weekend.