Golfbet recap: Davis Riley cruises to first individual TOUR title at Charles Schwab Challenge

This time he did it all on his own.

Davis Riley is a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR, holding off world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at Colonial Country Club to win the Charles Schwab Challenge and grab his first individual victory of his TOUR career.

Riley, a winner last season at the two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Nick Hardy, fought tough conditions on Sunday while shooting an even-par 70, winning by five shots over Scheffler and Keegan Bradley. At BetMGM Sportsbook, Riley was quite the pre-tournament longshot to win at +25000.

Scheffler began his week shooting 2-over in the first round and yet found himself in the final pairing on Sunday, trailing Riley by four shots. Riley began the day at even money (+100) to win the tournament, while Scheffler was at a slightly longer price of +110.

Updated odds for Davis Riley to win the Charles Schwab Challenge (via BetMGM)

• Pre-tournament: +25000
• After Round 1 (T2, trailed by 1): +4500
• After Round 2 (led by 2): +500
• After Round 3 (led by 4): +100

The wind had been steady throughout the week, but it seemed to be causing far more problems for players on Sunday, blowing between 15-25 mph. Temperatures were up and the golf course was getting even firmer. By the time the leaders were more than halfway through the outward nine, the course was playing nearly 2 1/2 shots more difficult than it was on Saturday.

A two-shot swing occurred at the par-4 fourth hole when Scheffler made a bogey and Riley rolled in a 25-foot putt for birdie. The margin was now five shots and Riley was -200 to win while Scheffler dipped to +225.

Scheffler found more trouble off the tee on No. 5, having to chip out of the woods and back into the fairway, ending in his second straight bogey. Riley dropped a shot as well and the gap between the two players remained at five shots.

After a birdie at No. 9, Riley had completed the first nine holes in even par. When he hit the 10th tee box, he had grown to a -1400 favorite to win the Charles Schwab Challenge. Scheffler, now six shots back, had dropped to +800. It was not a good day to try and catch the leader. Of the top 13 players on the leaderboard at this point in the tournament, only three players were working on rounds under par. Of the 71 players in the field, only 14 shot under-par rounds on Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas.

With just eight holes left to play and the two players at the top just trading pars, Riley was now -5000 to win and this golf tournament was all but over.

Did anyone have a winning ticket on Riley to win this week? "Not a one," said Thomas Gable, director of Race and Sports at The Borgata in New Jersey, when I asked him if he had taken any pre-tournament bets on Riley.

Jeff Sherman, a highly regarded golf oddsmaker in Las Vegas, said they took only one very small bet on the eventual winner. A similar story for hall of fame bookmaker, Nick Bogdanovich, "A couple of small ones is all," said the Las Vegas native.

“Nothing,” said Tristan Davis, senior manager at Mandalay Bay Race and Sportsbook. “He's a good winner for us."

Outright pick results from Golfbet Experts

• Will Gray: Harris English (+3300) MC
• Ben Everill: Tony Finau (+2800) T17
• Chris Breece: Denny McCarthy (+5500) T24
• Matt DelVecchio: Collin Morikawa (+1200) Fourth
• Rob Bolton: Scottie Scheffler (+270) T2
• Mike Glasscott: Scottie Scheffler (+270) T2

Riley was steady in the stats all week. He came into Sunday's final round ranked third in this field for Strokes Gained: Approach, 13th in SG: Off the Tee and fourth in SG: Putting. He finished ranked second, sixth and fourth respectively.

After shooting the low round of the tournament on Saturday, a 7-under 63, Scheffler struggled on Sunday. In the final round, he was 39th out of 71 players in Driving Accuracy, finding just seven of 14 fairways. He was 35th in Greens in Regulation, hitting only nine of 18 greens.

In 12 starts this season, Scheffler has now recorded 11 top-10 finishes. It is his third straight time finishing inside the top three at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

A runner-up here in 2020, Collin Morikawa was the only player in the field this week to shoot all four rounds in the 60s. He finished fourth.

It is quite the early-summer run for the PGA TOUR, coming off the PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge, and next week the TOUR is back at Hamilton Golf & Country Club for the RBC Canadian Open. It is then onto Muirfield Village for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, a Signature Event, and then the year's third major championship, the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Canadian Nick Taylor is your defending champion at the RBC Canadian Open, winning in dramatic fashion last year over Tommy Fleetwood when he holed a 72-foot putt for eagle on the fourth playoff hole. Rory McIlroy was the winner at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, the last time it was played in Hamilton, Ontario.

Rob Bolton Sleeper Picks and Golfbet Insider Results

• Andrew Putnam to win (+5500) MC
• Aaron Rai Top 5 finish (+900) T32
• Emiliano Grillo Top 10 finish (+900) 64th
• Kevin Tway Top 20 finish (+550) T24
• Mac Meissner Top 40 finish (+200) T5
• Taylor Moore Top 20 finish (+220) MC
• Keegan Bradley Top 20 finish (+200) T2
• Keith Mitchell Top 20 finish (+250) T37
• Ryan Palmer Top 40 finish (+333) MC
• Keegan Bradley, Thomas Detry and Austin Eckroat all make the cut (+170) T2/T56/MC
• Nico Echavarria Top 40 finish (+225) MC
• Max Greyserman Top 40 finish (+200) MC
• Sungjae Im Top Asian (+350) T9
• Zach Johnson Top 40 finish (+200) T45
• Min Woo Lee Top Australasian (+170) T24
• Justin Lower Top 40 finish (+150) MC
• Webb Simpson Top 40 finish (+140) T50

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.