Charles Schwab Challenge Preview 2021

2021 Charles Schwab Challenge Preview 2021

• Dates: May 24-30, 2021
• Course: Colonial Country Club
• Location Fort Worth, Texas
• Par and Yards: Par 70; 7,209 yards
• Purse $7.5 million
• Winner $1.35 million, 500 FedExCup pts.
• Players: 121 players
• Format: 72-hole stroke-play
• Defending champion Daniel Berger
• Television:
  • Thursday GC
  • Friday GC
  • Saturday GC, CBS
  • Sunday GC, CBS
    

For a list of Charles Schwab Challenge Winners follow the link.

Return to the site of the return: The 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge marked the PGA TOUR’s return to competition after a 12-week hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 91-day gap between the cancellation of THE PLAYERS Championship and the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge represented the longest unscheduled break from PGA TOUR competition since World War II.

Mickelson goes for two in a row: Phil Mickelson won his sixth major championship title at last week’s PGA Championship, becoming the oldest major winner in history and the sixth-oldest winner of any tournament in PGA TOUR history. Two of Mickelson’s 45 career PGA TOUR victories have come at the Charles Schwab Challenge (2000, 2008) and he will be making his third start in the event since 2010 (T29/2017, MC/2020).

Last to win the week after winning a major: Tiger Woods, 2006 (PGA Championship, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)

Playoff participants are back: Daniel Berger defeated Collin Morikawa in a playoff at Colonial in 2020, earning his third career PGA TOUR title. Berger entered the week No. 107 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has since moved up 91 spots to No. 16, while Morikawa has jumped from No. 44 to No. 5 in the same span. Both players would go on to finish the season in the top 15 in the FedExCup standings and have combined for four victories on the PGA TOUR since their playoff, highlighted by Morikawa’s 2020 PGA Championship title.

Playing well at home: Dallas native Jordan Spieth has three consecutive top-10s in the state of Texas, highlighted by his 12th career PGA TOUR title at the Valero Texas Open (others: T9/WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, T9/AT&T Byron Nelson). Spieth, who won at Colonial in 2017, enters the week at No. 9 in the FedExCup standings.

Another opportunity for Visacki: Michael Visacki, who received widespread attention after Monday qualifying for the Valspar Championship, is in the field on a sponsor exemption. Visacki missed the cut at the Valspar Championship after carding scores of 74-71 (+3).

Last week on TOUR: Phil Mickelson won his sixth major championship title at last week’s PGA Championship, becoming the oldest major winner in history and the sixth-oldest winner of any tournament in PGA TOUR history. With the victory, Mickelson became the 14th player to reach six major championship titles and ninth to win 45 times on the PGA TOUR.

41-year-old Erik Compton received a sponsor exemption and will make his 164th career start on the PGA TOUR. Compton, who has received two heart transplants, has played primarily on the Korn Ferry Tour over the last five seasons and has made three starts on the PGA TOUR in that time (all missed cuts; most recent: 2021 The Honda Classic).

Top players winning top events: Three of the five events to date this season that award 600 points to the winner have been won by players that entered the week in the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking: Bryson DeChambeau, 2020 U.S. Open (9); Dustin Johnson, 2020 Masters (1); Justin Thomas, THE PLAYERS (3).

Few first-time winners: There have been just five first-time PGA TOUR winners this season: Carlos Ortiz, Vivint Houston Open; Jason Kokrak, THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK; Joel Dahmen, Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship; Sam Burns, Valspar Championship; K.H. Lee, AT&T Byron Nelson. The last time there were fewer than 10 in a season: 2012 (9). Fewest in a season: 4 (1992).

Winning droughts snapped in back-to-back weeks: On August 6, 2017, Hideki Matsuyama won his fifth PGA TOUR title. At that time, Jordan Spieth was No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking and Matsuyama was No. 3. Neither won on the PGA TOUR over the next 1,300 days, before back-to-back at the Valero Texas Open (Spieth) and Masters Tournament (Matsuyama).

Thomas joins elite company: Justin Thomas won THE PLAYERS Championship by one stroke, earning his 14th PGA TOUR title in his 165th career start at the age of 27 years, 10 months, 13 days. Thomas became the fourth player since 1960 to win 14 times on TOUR before turning 28, joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.

Youth in the FedExCup standings: Nine of the top 10 players in the FedExCup standings are in their 20s, led by No. 1 Bryson DeChambeau. The only player 30 or older in the top 10 is Stewart Cink (6).

A Look At The Charles Schwab Challenge Field:

Phil Mickelson

• Winner of last week’s PGA Championship (oldest major winner in history)
• Two-time winner of the Charles Schwab Challenge (2000, 2008)
• Moved to No. 45 in the FedExCup and No. 32 in the Official World Golf Ranking

Justin Thomas

• Finished T10 at the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge in his tournament debut
• Most career PGA TOUR wins among players younger than 30 (14)
• No. 2 in both the FedExCup standings and Official World Golf Ranking

Collin Morikawa

• Lost in a playoff at the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge
• Shot a final-round 68 to finish T8 in title defense at last week’s PGA Championship
• Last to win a tournament a year after losing in playoff: Ryuji Imada, 2008 AT&T Classic

Patrick Reed

• Finished T7 in 2020, his first top-10 in four starts at the event
• Earned ninth PGA TOUR victory earlier this season at the Farmers Insurance Open
• Leads the PGA TOUR in One-Putt Percentage (45.53%) and Putts Per Round (27.76)

The Charles Schwab Challenge Preview is via PGA TOUR