🏌️ Scheffler In Hovland Out

Good Morning! The final field for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge is set - Scottie Scheffler headlines the event while Viktor Hovland has withdrawn from the tournament.

Don’t forget to check out our top picks to bet on!

Fun Fact: Xander Schauffele is the first player in history to shoot 62 in a major and go on to win that week.

⛳ This day in history: The winner of the first and third Masters, Horton Smith, was born on this date in Springfield, Missouri, in 1908. He received the prestigious Bob Jones Award in 1962.

ODDS AND PICKS
Our Top Picks For Charles Schwab Challenge

🚩 The Charles Schwab Challenge tees off tomorrow, with PGA Tour stars assembling at the iconic Colonial Golf Course to battle it out for the prestigious title.

💰 Purse: $9.1 million, winner takes home $1.64 million.

Here are our top picks we’re betting on:

🚀 Most Likely to Win: Despite Collin Morikawa's (+1200) somewhat underwhelming performance on Sunday when in contention, Colonial Golf Course suits his skills well, particularly his proficiency with short to middle iron shots. While he did fall short at Valhalla, his improved confidence in chipping and putting suggests he could be a strong contender once again at this course, known for its emphasis on approach play.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 5: Brian Harman (+650), coming off a solid top-30 finish at the PGA Championship where he excelled in approach shots, is poised to perform well at Colonial. With a history of strong performances at the Maxwell-designed course, including multiple top-10 finishes, Harman's skill with irons is well-suited to this type of course with smaller greens. His success at TPC Sawgrass, another course requiring precision with short to middle irons, further highlights his potential at Colonial.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 10: Chris Kirk (+450), a past champion at Colonial, has consistently performed well at the Maxwell-designed course, with seven top-25 finishes in 12 appearances. Since his victory in 2015, Kirk has remained competitive at this venue, showcasing his strong skill set. With a win already under his belt this season and a reputation as one of the top wedge players on tour, Kirk's proficiency with wedges will likely serve him well once again at Colonial.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 20: Aaron Rai's (+225) exceptional driving accuracy coupled with his proficiency in middle to short iron play makes him well-suited for Colonial Golf Course. His impressive 12th place finish in the event last year underscores his compatibility with the course. Despite not being an ideal fit for his style of play, Rai managed to make the cut and perform well at the PGA Championship, indicating his adaptability. With Colonial's narrow fairways and small greens aligning better with Rai's strengths, he is likely to excel at this venue.

🚀 Underdog Likely to Emerge: Greyson Sigg (+1800), despite flying under the radar, possesses impressive skills with short irons, making him a standout in this field. His recent strong performance at the Myrtle Beach Classic, where he gained significant strokes on approach, demonstrates his proficiency in iron play. Sigg's strength in this area is further amplified on shorter golf courses with small greens, as seen in his ability to elevate his approach game. With Colonial's characteristics aligning well with his strengths, Sigg is primed to showcase his skill set and potentially emerge as a surprise performer this week.

* All odds via BetMGM, at the time of publishing.

ALBATROSS
Scheffler Headlines Strong Field @ Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Challenge tees off tomorrow at the Colonial Golf Course - a total purse of $9.1 million and 500 FedEx Cup points are at stake.

⛳️ Strong Field: World No 1 Scottie Scheffler leads a strong field comprising the likes of Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Brian Harman and Jordan Spieth, among others.

Emiliano Grillo returns to defend, looking to become the first back-to-back winner at Colonial since Ben Hogan in the 1950s. Past FedEx Cup champions Billy Horschel and Justin Rose will look to capitalize on their momentum from the PGA Championship.

🚫 Hovland Withdraws: Viktor Hovland has withdrawn from the tournament, a week after "almost pulling out" of the PGA Championship. He had a stellar outing at Valhalla last week, finishing 3rd behind Schauffele and DeChambeau.

Wesley Bryan will replace Hovland. Nick Dunlap also withdrew, with Ryan Fox replacing him.

🌦️ Weather Watch: Rain and scattered thunderstorms are expected during the opening round at the Colonial Golf Course. But thankfully, the weather gets better from thereon.

Friday is likely to have ideal conditions for golf. Saturday and Sunday will remain bright and sunny, unlikely to face any weather interruptions.

🏌‍♀Tee Times Of Key Players (ET):
08:55 am - Finau, Homa, Scott
09:06 am - Eckroat, Morikawa, Straka
01:45 pm - Scheffler, Horschel, Bradley

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
This Equipment Played A Crucial Role In Schauffele's Major Victory

Xander Schauffele won the PGA Championship with supreme ball-striking, a sharp short game and a hot putter, but the one club that has helped redefine his game over the 2024 season and at the PGA Championship was his driver, which is a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond with a Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana PD 70TX shaft.

📌 Driver: Schauffele’s driving stood up to the test by ranking 3rd in strokes gained off the tee and 15th in driving distance. This gave him ample chances to approach greens from favorable positions and allowed him to rank first in greens in regulation - all thanks to his Paradym Ai driver.

📌 Golf Ball: Schauffele’s ball of choice is Callaway’s newest Chrome Tour and we can't overlook the role it played in Schauffele's success. With the 2024 Chrome Tour series of golf balls, the engineers at Callaway are finally seeing the payoffs from the years of R&D.

📌 Putter: Schauffele's multi-colored mallet putter was hard to miss due to the red paint on the head. It’s a color he’s come to embrace over the years, outside of a brief stint with the same putter in a silver finish. Visuals matter a lot in professional golf and Schauffele himself insisted on this color combo for his putter.

Check out what else Xander Schauffele had in his bag during his victorious campaign at Valhalla.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

Scheffler's Arrest: Police in Louisville, Kentucky, will investigate and review if procedures were followed in the arrest of golfer Scottie Scheffler at the gates of the PGA Championship on Friday.

New Hosts: TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley will host the 2025 RBC Canadian Open - it will be the 38th golf course in the event’s 121-year history.

TV Ratings: CBS reported an 11% viewership increase for the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday. ESPN earlier reported an 18% increase in second round viewership.

Stat Attack: Nelly Korda’s dominance of the women’s game since the turn of the year has been almost unprecedented - this astonishing stat proves just how dominant the World No 1 has been in 2024.

LIV Golf: Several LIV golfers failed to make it to the US Open via final qualifying, but for the one who did - Eugenio Chacarra, it will mark his maiden Major appearance.

BIRDIE
These Reasons Explain Why 2024 PGA Championship Was The Easiest In History

The 2024 PGA Championship produced the lowest total combined score ever in the history of the tournament - here's why scores at Valhalla were so much lower than anywhere before.

⛳️ The rains softened up the course and made some of the longer par-3s and par-4s become more receptive to longer approach shots.

Early in the tournament, many players were hitting fairway woods on tricky holes like Nos. 14, 16, and 17 into the wind, giving them better opportunities to score lower.

⛳️ The switch to Zoysia from the bent grass that had previously been used at Valhalla during the 2014 PGA Championship was another major factor. Outside of a few mishits, most players saw their ball almost teed up in the fairway, due to the playing surface.

⛳️ The incredible conditions of the greens made putting nearly flawless. If a player happened to miss an easy putt, it definitely wasn’t due to any imperfections in the greens, which often happens at other tournaments.

DRIVING RANGE
How To Fix Your Downswing

In today's video, we demonstrate a simple drill to get your club in the correct position on the downswing so that you can straighten out your full shots.

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