This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Charles Schwab Challenge
Fort Worth, Texas
Colonial Country Club - Par 70 - 7,209 yards
Field - 148 entrants
Purse - $7.5M
The Preview
Unprecedented times call for even more unpredictability from a daily fantasy golf perspective with 148 competitors returning from a three-month absence as the PGA Tour, which never really has a legitimate offseason, provides a sense of positivity and normalcy in its restoration at a historic setting like Colonial Country Club. The product will look vastly abnormal without fans lining the fairways and filling up the grandstands, but new elements including mic'd up players and star-studded fields for middle of the road events accompany the Tour's revival. A limited schedule boosts field strength throughout the remainder of the season, as evidenced by seven of the Official World Golf Rankings' top-10 making the trek to Fort Worth this week. Surprisingly tame winds by Texan standards are forecasted until Sunday, inviting lower scores to snoop around a par-70 layout that has historically catered to older entrants with experience and a propensity for finding fairways, while the flat stick remains key on small bentgrass putting surfaces. For fantasy gamers, however, bankroll management is the name of the game this week despite all of the excitement as these golfers simply attempt to return to form.
Recent Champions
2019 - Kevin Na
2018 - Justin Rose
2017 - Kevin Kisner
2016 - Jordan Spieth
2015 - Chris Kirk
2014 - Adam Scott
2013 - Boo Weekley
2012 - Zach Johnson
2011 - David Toms
2010 - Zach Johnson
2009 - Steve Stricker
Key Stats to Victory
GIR percentage
SG: Putting
Proximity
Driving accuracy
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Jon Rahm - $47
A missed cut at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge preceded what has become quite an incredible run of results for Rahm, who has amassed three international wins and 14 total top-10s in 18 starts dating back to the U.S. Open last June to put Rory McIlroy on notice atop the OWGR. Through 19 measured rounds on the PGA Tour this season, Rahm has gained nearly an entire stroke with the flat stick per 18 holes, landing the Spaniard inside of the top-5 in terms of SG: Putting among his peers. The MC for Rahmbo at Colonial CC last year shouldn't be of much concern whatsoever, given he tallied consecutive top-5s in his first two career appearances at the venue.
Webb Simpson - $44
Simpson owns somewhat limited experience at Colonial with just two cuts made in five attempts, but he made the most of them with back-to-back top-5s in 2016 and 2017. This time around, however, he enters the event as a top-10 member of the OWGR after racking up five straight top-10s from the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open through the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he held off Tony Finau in a two-man playoff to collect just his second victory in seven years. Simpson leads his peers in birdie average this season while also ranking seventh in GIR percentage, seventh in proximity, 13th in SG: Putting and sixth in total driving.
Marc Leishman - $38
Leishman is a perfect 7-for-7 in cuts made at Colonial CC, notching an average finish just inside the top 25 throughout his last four voyages to Fort Worth despite failing to make an appearance in the top 10. A promising entrance to the 2020 calendar year included a win at the Farmers Insurance Open and he nearly found the winner's circle again six weeks later at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finished one stroke shy of champion Tyrrell Hatton. Although accuracy off the tee has been worrisome for the Aussie according to his 52.40% FIR rate, Leishman is a savvy vet with enough Colonial experience to understand that less than driver is justifiable in certain spots here, and his quality ball striking has allowed him to reside fifth in SG: Approach.
Glue Guys
Scottie Scheffler - $36
The former Longhorn kept the competitive juices flowing in Texas throughout the hiatus at his home course with a win at the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational 1.0 followed by runner-up honors at the 2.0 version of the event. These 54-hole charity tournaments financially benefited local caddies during an uneasy time, but they also featured prominent entrants such as Viktor Hovland, Abraham Ancer and Beau Hossler to name a few. Scheffler currently leads all PGA Tour rookies in FedEx Cup points thanks to a quartet of top-10 finishes through 13 starts, ranking fifth in birdie average, sixth in par-4 scoring and eighth in SG: Off-the-Tee while rising to a career-best 45th in the OWGR.
Kevin Kisner - $34
An accurate driver of the golf ball with a steady putting stroke, it's not surprising that Kisner's playing style translated to a T5-T10-Win stretch from 2015-2017 here at Colonial CC. The 36-year-old's current OWGR position matches his age, while he ranks 28th on Tour in FIR percentage, 11th in scrambling from 10-20 yards, 26th in putting from inside 10 feet and 31st in par-3 birdie average. Having gained strokes off the tee in six consecutive starts prior to the break, Kisner manages to make up for his lack of power with control.
Kevin Na - $31
The defending champ could get a bit chalky at such an affordable price as Na posted a collective 27-under-par effort at Colonial CC since placing solo-fourth here in 2018, which included three ridiculous rounds of 62 or better. He's gained an average of 2.7 strokes putting over his last 10 starts, ascending to seventh on Tour in SG: Putting for the season. Na also sits fifth in one-putt percentage, sixth in scrambling and fifth in par-3 scoring.
Bargain Bin
Ryan Palmer - $30
So much uncertainty surrounds projections for this event, but a rare sense of comfortability figures to accompany Palmer this week as both he and his caddie, James Edmonson, remain members at Colonial CC where the former has finished T6 or better in four of his last eight tournament appearances. Palmer, who's afforded the capability of staying aggressive off the tee on home turf, was one of just two players to break 70 in all four rounds here this past year. Given his short-game issues earlier in the season, returning to competition on these familiar bentgrass greens should be especially beneficial for Palmer.
Daniel Berger - $26
Given his betting odds in the 60/1 to 80/1 range and brilliant pre-quarantine form, Berger feels somewhat undervalued in this spot as he looks to ride the positive momentum train stemming from three consecutive top-10s sparked by a T9 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He gained an average of 6.2 strokes from tee to green per tourney en route to top-5s at the Honda Classic and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in his most recent performances, rising to 14th in SG: Total to go along with a 4.26 birdie average. Furthermore, Berger is fourth in putting from inside 12 feet, 12th in scrambling and fifth in total driving.
Harris English - $25
English is in the same boat as Berger when it comes to a questionably low price tag despite such quality form to begin the 2019-20 campaign, but the former also owns an impressive Colonial track record with four consecutive top-30s and two top-10s in six career showings at the Charles Schwab. English entered the hiatus on the heels of a T16-T17-T9 stretch from the WMPO through the Arnold Palmer Invitational, gaining at least 3.7 strokes putting in each of those events, though he also ranks fifth on Tour in GIR percentage and 18th in SG: Tee-to-Green this season.
