The First Look: Charles Schwab Challenge

The PGA TOUR returns to Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge – the longest-running host venue among non-majors on the PGA TOUR schedule.

But for this year, the best in the world are set to take on a restored and renovated Colonial. The effort began the day after last year’s Charles Schwab Challenge and the crew has been sprinting to the finish as they await the TOUR’s best to tee it up this week.

The field is chock-full of notable names ready to take on Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner’s newest effort – a nod to the original Perry Maxwell design with plenty of modern touches.

Led by the Texas two-step of Scottie Scheffler and past winner Jordan Spieth, it’s set to be another great week in the Lone Star State.

Here’s everything else you need to know as the PGA TOUR returns to Fort Worth.

FIELD NOTES: Scheffler leads the way at Colonial. Scheffler recorded his 10th top-10 finish in 11 events so far in 2024 at the PGA Championship – a week unlike any other for him. His last two results at the Charles Schwab Challenge have been T3-T2… Collin Morikawa, fresh off a T4 at the PGA Championship, returns to Colonial. Morikawa has never missed the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge with his highest-ever finish coming in 2020 when he finished runner-up… Emiliano Grillo returns to defend, looking to become the first back-to-back winner at Colonial since Ben Hogan in the 1950s… Spieth is hoping for a nice bounce-back at the Charles Schwab Challenge after missing the cut a year ago. Prior to that, Spieth finished in the top 10 in seven out of eight years. He has three runner-ups at Colonial and a win in 2016… A pair of past FedExCup champions in Billy Horschel and Justin Rose are looking to capitalize on their momentum from the PGA Championship. Horschel finished T8 at Valhalla Golf Club – his first major championship top-10 result since 2013 – and Rose finished T6. Rose won at Colonial in 2018… Tom Kim, who now lives in Dallas, will make his debut at Colonial. Kim has made his last five cuts in a row, including a T26 at the PGA Championship… Max Homa returns to Colonial after a T9 a year ago – his best result in five tries.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Both Coody twins – Parker and Pierceson – earned sponsor invites into Colonial. Parker was one of two (along with Max Greyserman) who make up the Champions' Choice selections. Pierceson was a Champions' Choice last year. It’s a long-running tournament tradition for past champions to select two players to join the field who would have not otherwise qualified… Major champions Zach Johnson, Webb Simpson and Jimmy Walker got sponsor exemptions along with past FedExCup champ Brandt Snedeker and Olympic medalist Rory Sabbatini… Colonial member Ryan Palmer – who was instrumental in getting the renovation plans pushed to the finish line – is in the field… A pair of SMU alums in Mac Meissner and Austin Smotherman garnered sponsor invites. Meissner’s best result this season was a T10 at the Valero Texas Open and he comes into the week after a T13 at the Myrtle Beach Classic. Smotherman has made five of six cuts so far this season… Rounding out the sponsor exemptions are TOUR rookie Tom Whitney and Michael Block, who had a year unlike any other after finishing T15 at the PGA Championship a year ago.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The next Signature Event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday… The top FedExCup points earners from the Myrtle Beach Classic, Charles Schwab Challenge, and RBC Canadian Open will earn spots… After finishing T4 at the PGA Championship, Thomas Detry moves to up eight spots to No. 6 in the Aon Next 10. Taylor Pendrith, after a missed cut at Valhalla, slides out to No. 11… After his win in Myrtle Beach, Chris Gotterup leads the Aon Swing 5, with Davis Thompson in the No. 2 position and a sixsome of golfers all fighting for the final three spots. Those standings were unchanged after the PGA Championship.

COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: Despite Xander Schauffele’s major-winning effort at the PGA Championship, he remains in second in the TOUR TOP 10 standings to Scheffler… Shane Lowry, after finishing T6 at the PGA Championship, jumps inside the TOUR TOP 10 from No. 16 to No. 10… Morikawa also makes a move inside the standings from No. 11 to No. 8 after finishing T4 at Valhalla… All of Nos. 1 through 7 in the standings remained the same, while Hideki Matsuyama slid from No. 8 to No. 9.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Colonial Country Club, par 70, 7,289 yards. Gil Hanse’s ambitious $25-million restoration of the venerable Dallas layout – which began shortly after the final putt dropped last year – is completed. Hanse was tasked with returning the course to its original look when it first opened in 1936. According to the Dallas News, 90-120 workers put in a 12-hour-a-day effort, six days per week. The club has seen partial restoration projects previously, but talks of an intensive re-work began about a decade ago when the club needed to replace an old irrigation system. Hanse restored Tulsa’s Southern Hills Country Club, the 2022 PGA Championship host, (and another Perry Maxwell design) so he was deemed a natural choice. Greens were relocated, bunkers were removed, previously elevated greens have been lowered, and some sightlines have been made cleaner.

72-HOLE RECORD: 259, Zach Johnson (2010).

18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Keith Clearwater (Round 2, 1993), Lee Janzen (Round 4, 1993), Greg Kraft (Round 3, 1999), Kenny Perry (Round 3, 2003), Justin Leonard (Round 4, 2003), Chad Campbell (Round 3, 2004), Kevin Na (Round 4, 2018).

LAST TIME: Grillo won for the second time in his PGA TOUR career after topping Adam Schenk in a playoff. Grillo saved himself from a potentially disastrous collapse after knocking his tee shot on the second playoff hole (the par-3 16th) to just five feet. He blew a two-stroke lead with a double-bogey on the 72nd hole. Schenk made an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 16 – his only birdie of the round – and then parred Nos. 17 and 18 to remain tied for Grillo. The pair traded pars on the first playoff hole before Grillo stuck his tee shot on the second extra hole and converted the birdie for his first win in seven years. Scheffler finished tied for third along with Harry Hall – who had had the first- and second-round lead – after Scheffler made his second-career ace on TOUR. He shot 67 to finish one shot back of the playoff.

HOW TO FOLLOW (all times ET):

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)

PGA TOUR LIVE:

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured holes: Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes

PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free on PGATOUR.COM/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.