Horse For The Course: PGA DFS Course History - Charles Schwab Challenge

Joe Nicely's under-the-radar DraftKings, FanDuel PGA DFS picks for the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge. His Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history.

Hello PGA DFS family! What a week at Kiawah Island! Phil Mickelson became golf's oldest-ever major winner by holding off Brooks Koepka Sunday afternoon. The victory was a shock in just about every way imaginable, but obviously the big one is that Phil is nearly 51-years-old! Reminiscent of Jack Nicklaus' victory in the '86 Masters and Tiger's legendary 2019 win at Augusta National, Mickelson once again reminded us that greatness has no true age limit in the game of golf.

While we'll certainly be talking about last week's PGA Championship for quite a while, PGA DFS grinders must always look forward. This week we turn our attention to the Charles Schwab Challenge, an event that's being played at legendary Colonial Country Club and offers a surprisingly-strong field of players. Let's get to it!

Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!

2021 Charles Schwab Challenge Overview

After the excitement of Phil Mickelson's win at the PGA Championship, we now head to a classic venue for the Charles Schwab Classic. It's tough to dive into this event without feeling that it's something of an "anniversary" for hardcore PGA DFS fans, as the Schwab marked the return to golf from the COVID-19 layoff last year. There's a lot to be thankful for almost a year out from that noteworthy week, as golf has basically returned to normal, with fans on the course and 2021's second major championship having just concluded on schedule. So...while we like to give the PGA Tour a hard time (justifiably so) about lots of things...a huge tip of the cap to the Tour for handling the unprecedented COVID situation in such a wonderful way.

As for this year's Charles Schwab, we aren't going to see the major-championship-like field that we saw in 2020, but the group of players showing up to Colonial is nothing to scoff at. I was a little concerned that players would elect to skip the Schwab after getting their asses kicked for four days at Kiawah Island last week, though we thankfully have a very strong turnout for this mainstay event that's been on the PGA Tour schedule - in one form or another - since 1946.

Defending Charles Schwab champion, Daniel Berger, will be back to defend his title against a stout group of competitors. Players teeing it up this week include a couple of top-tier names that disappointed in the PGA Championship last week - Justin Thomas & Jordan Spieth - as well as players that bring some nice positive momentum with them to Texas - Abraham Ancer & Justin Rose. This is shaping up to be a very interesting slate that's pretty darn loaded. Lots of course history to dive into, so let's tee it up!

You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!

The Course: Colonial Country Club

Par 70 - 7,209 Yards, Greens: Bentgrass, Designed By: John Bredemus & Perry Maxwell

This 1936 design was recognized as an instant classic. Since Colonial made its debut on the PGA Tour in 1946, the event has been played under many names, but the course has continued to endure as a mainstay on the schedule. The legendary Ben Hogan looms large as a presence at Colonial, as he won the event back-to-back not once, but twice. In the same vein as Hogan, we have seen the same players repeatedly perform well at the Forth Worth layout.

The tight fairways and multiple doglegs that are cut through the course's pecan trees make this layout difficult to overpower, with a premium being placed on a player's ball striking, shotmaking, and scrambling abilities. While distance is not something we ever want to totally dismiss, it does take something of a backseat in importance at Ben Hogan's old stomping grounds.

This classic layout has certainly favored the "ballstriking-fairways-and-greens-course-management" type of player historically, but we've also seen guys like Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka, and Jon Rahm record strong finishes at Colonial in recent years. So while golfers that are short off the tee will find themselves able to compete with the big hitters more on a classic layout like this, the bombers can't be totally discounted, which muddies the waters a bit when trying to narrow this strong field down to a certain "type" of player.

For an in-depth breakdown of this week's course, check out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett!

Recent Charles Schwab Champions

• 2020: Daniel Berger (-15)
• 2019: Kevin Na (-13)
• 2018: Justin Rose (-20)
• 2017: Kevin Kisner (-10)
• 2016: Jordan Spieth (-17)

The Horse

Jordan Spieth

Notable Course History: T10 (2020), T8 ('19), T2 ('17), Win ('16)
DraftKings Price: $11,200 FanDuel Price: $12,300

A fairly obvious "Horse" this week, as Jordan Spieth's terrific history at Colonial is well known in the PGA DFS world. However, just because a play is obvious doesn't mean it's bad and that's where I find myself this week with Spieth, a player that will certainly be popular, but also has a tremendous chance to win this golf tournament.

Since winning here in 2016, the Texan has logged a runner-up and a pair of top-10s in his four subsequent starts. Let's also keep in mind that Spieth's form during this period was often less-than-good, which makes the fact that he's gained a MASSIVE 50.8 strokes Total (almost double that of the next-best player) in this event since 2016 even that much more remarkable.

Despite a disappointing performance last week at the PGA Championship, we actually get to play Spieth at Colonial when he's in good form (it's been awhile), which is a pretty exciting proposition. After spending a couple of years lost in the depths of his swing, he's found himself in 2021, posting a win at Valero and four additional top-five finishes this year. Those results have came on the strength of his significantly improved ball striking. Spieth ranks fourth in this Schwab field in SG: Approach over the last 24 rounds, as well as fifth in SG: T2G & eight in SG: Ball Striking over the same time frame.

After struggling mightily last week on Kiawah's Paspalum greens, the native Texan will return to his beloved Bentgrass putting surfaces at Colonial. Spieth grades out third in the field in SG: Putting on Bent over long-term measurements.

Yes, he'll be a popular fantasy option this week, but this is a spot where I'm willing to swallow the chalk and attempt to differentiate my DFS rosters in other places.

The Ponies

Collin Morikawa

Notable Course History: 2nd ('20)
DraftKings Price: $10,500 FanDuel Price: $11,900

Unlike Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa doesn't have an extensive history at Colonial, but the young star might be just as great a fit for the legendary Texas layout. Anytime precision and ball striking top the list of skills we're looking for, Morikawa becomes a very high priority for me. That's the case this week, as he's set to make his second career start in the Schwab.

Morikawa logged an impressive runner-up finish in his tournament debut last year and this event will likely be a fixture on his schedule for years to come, as his precision-focused style is a tremendous natural fit for this tight, demanding Colonial layout. Unsurprisingly, Morikawa grades out first in this week's field in SG: T2G, Ball Striking, & Approach, while standing sixth in Fairways Gained. He's averaging a ridiculous +7.1 SG: Approach over his last five tournaments and comes into the week fresh off a T8 performance in the PGA Championship in which he gained 7.7 strokes with the irons.

The concern with the Cal alum is always the putting and, unfortunately, he's lost strokes on the greens in four of his last five starts. The result when he did gain strokes with the putter? A win at the WGC-Workday Championship. Putting is hard to predict, especially with Morikawa, but Bent is statistically his "least worst" putting surface, as he's only losing 0.9 strokes on Bent, versus -.28 on Bermuda & -.26 on Poa Annua. It's not a stat that instills tons of confidence, but it is something to note for a player that has a knack for winning events when he putts just decently.

Abraham Ancer

Notable Course History: T14 ('20), T58 ('19), T52 ('18)
DraftKings Price: $9,700 FanDuel Price: $11,400

Welcome to "Abe Ancer Chalk Week" boys and girls! His blistering final-round 65 at the PGA Championship, coupled with his recent form and great course fit at Colonial, will make him one of the most popular DFS plays on the slate this week. So while we can discuss what to do with him from a game-theory standpoint as the week progresses, for now I'll simply agree that his projected popularity makes sense.

Ancer's track record at Colonial isn't really elite, with a T14 last year being his best result, but we can argue that he's a much different player now than he was in 2018-19. His results of 2021 are certainly eye-opening...he's made 10 of 12 cuts this year - including his last eight starts in a row - with top-five finishes in two of his last three.

The fit at Colonial is undoubtedly a good one, as Ancer checks all the boxes needed on the legendary course. He stands first in this Schwab field in SG: OTT and third in Fairways Gained, while grading out fourth in GIRs Gained and sixth in Overall Proximity over the last 24 rounds.

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Brian Harman

Notable Course History: T23 ('20), T14 ('18), T7 ('17), T25 ('16)
DraftKings Price: $8,000 FanDuel Price: $10,100

Unlike the aforementioned Abraham Ancer, who heads to Fort Worth off a blistering PGA performance, Brian Harman comes to Colonial on the heels of a missed cut at Kiawah Island. It was Harman's first misstep in quite some time, as the diminutive lefty had made 10 consecutive cuts prior to his early exit for the PGA.

This 7,200-ish yard Colonial layout presents a much more manageable challenge for the light-hitting Harman than last week's 7,870-yard behemoth and his history in the Schwab reflects as much. The veteran has made seven consecutive cuts at Colonial with a pair of top-10s and two top-25s among those starts. At $8k on DraftKings he also represents our first great value play on this slate and offers a significant discount in comparison to the popular $9k-plus price range.

Chris Kirk

Notable Course History: T11 ('18), T15 ('16), Win ('15), T5 ('12)
DraftKings Price: $7,600 FanDuel Price: $9,100

A couple of bad outings and motherf*****s act like they forgot about Kirk. Ok, so maybe he's not Dr. Dre, but it's possible that Chris Kirk will get lost in the shuffle a bit this week, as he heads to Texas on the heels of missed cuts in his last two starts.

I'm willing to stay on the former Colonial winner despite those rough outings, as they came on long, bomber-friendly golf courses in Quail Hollow and the Ocean Course that aren't great fits for Kirk's game. However, this week's classical 7,200-yard Colonial layout will be infinitely more manageable for him. He's been tremendous throughout 2021 and had made six consecutive cuts prior to the May mishaps. Kirk still ranks inside the top-30 in this field in all major Strokes Gained categories over the last 24 rounds, while grading out 19th in Proximity and 10th in Good Drives Gained. Love the DK price tag and love this as a rebound spot.

Joel Dahmen

Notable Course History: T19 ('20), MC ('19), T20 ('18)
DraftKings Price: $7,400 FanDuel Price: $9,000

Joel Dahmen is a player that I'm starting to view as almost a "Bubba Watson Lite" type of guy. Watson has long-been known to repeatedly perform well on a handful of select golf courses and Dahmen is starting to fall into a similar category. Colonial has been one of his "happy places" and he's logged top-20 finishes in two of his last three Schwab appearances.

In addition to his history at Colonial, Dahmen heads to Texas with sneaky-good form. He nabbed a victory at Corales a couple of months ago and - aside from a hangover-induced T74 the following week at Valero - has played well in subsequent starts, recording a solid T18 at the Wells Fargo and a better-than-it-looks T55 last week at the PGA Championship. Dahmen gained an impressive 5.5 strokes on Approach last week on the Ocean Course and has SG: T2G splits of +7.1 (Wells Fargo) & +5.5 (PGA) over his last two starts.

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