Newly crowned US PGA champion Xander Schauffele will not be at Colonial Country Club for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, but there is still a strong field, led by world number one Scottie Scheffler, who is looking for his fifth tournament win in his last seven outings.
- SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER TO WIN EACH-WAY
- TONY FINAU TO WIN EACH-WAY
- SUNGJAE IM TO WIN EACH-WAY
Scheffler Can Taste Home-State Success
Becoming a father and having an altercation with a Kentucky police officer meant that a sub-standard performance from Scottie Scheffler at the US PGA Championship can be excused, and plenty of players would have been delighted with the closing 65 that gave him a share of eighth place.
So there seems no cause for panic as he should be fully focused for a trip to his home state of Texas for the Charles Schwab Challenge as he looks for another triumph in a year to remember.
Colonial Country Club provides a tight test which Scheffler should not find problematic as he leads the PGA Tour standings in virtually every key stat.
It is impossible to find fault with his recent form and he has performed well at this venue too, finishing third last year when Emiliano Grillo triumphed, and he lost to Sam Burns in a playoff in 2022.
The quality of his play on Sunday suggests the trials of the last seven days are behind him and he has a great chance of getting back to winning ways.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER TO WIN EACH-WAY
Finau Has Enough To Be A Factor
There will be plenty of players ganging up to push Scheffler all the way and the accurate Collin Morikawa may fancy his chances after going close to another PGA success last weekend.
However, one to keep an eye on is Tony Finau, who was second on his last visit to Texas in the Houston Open in March, and his 18th at Valhalla was solid enough to merit his consideration.
Finau missed the cut at Colonial last year but performed well to finish fourth 12 months earlier having got his effort off to an indifferent start.
He was also second behind Kevin Na three years before that when he started with a blistering 64, so he knows how to be successful around Colonial and could force his way into the picture this week.
Im Can Put Poor Valhalla Show Behind Him
Sungjae Im will have been disappointed to have missed the cut at Valhalla last week, but there has been enough to like about some of his other recent efforts to suggest he could bounce back.
He won a tournament in South Korea at the end of last month and built upon that with fourth spot the following week in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
Im missed the cut last year and has failed to make the weekend in three of his five Colonial efforts, but he was tenth and 15th on the other two occasions, and we could be about to witness one of his better attempts to win this.
