In-play golf betting tips: Preview and best bets for the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial CC
Golf betting tips: The Charles Schwab Challenge final round
3pt win Harris English at 5/2 (General)
A few years ago the journalist Lewine Mair asked the then-European Tour player Simon Wakefield what he knew of Inbee Park. The Englishman pondered the question for a while and then said: “Inbee Park, Inbee Park... no, I’m not sure I’ve played it.”
It was a wonderful moment. True, something of a snub for the then-World No. 1 in the women's game. But also just a delicious misunderstanding: circumstance, the typical line of golfing questions and the name being discussed had all contrived to set Wakefield up.
It’s a daft little tale and one that seems to have planted a seed in my brain because ever since I always see geographical locations on leaderboards. Georgia Hall, for example, has become a National Trust property and it’s been joined in recent times by Harry Hall which I’ve always visualised as being a bit of an uninspiring old pile but perhaps the property, like the golfer, is on the up.
All of which is a meandering and long-winded way of saying that England’s Harry Hall is sharing the lead with Adam Schenk on 10-under 200 heading into the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge, the pair of them one shot clear of HARRIS ENGLISH with the field a further three blows in arrears.
It’s been a remarkable performance so far from the 25-year-old Hall who has been a winner in the last two years on the Korn Ferry Tour but whose PGA Tour best effort was seventh in this year’s Puerto Rico Open (his only other top 10 was in the Mexico Open last month). Although he played in the 2019 Walker Cup, his Wikipedia page was only created this week to mark his first round lead.
He endured a difficult front nine on Saturday that included back-to-back double bogey-6s but he dug deep to make a pair of birdies on the back nine. The fightback allowed him to stay in the hunt for a breakthrough win with a 2-over 72 to add to his opening 62-66. He described it as “pretty cool” to be tied for the lead despite that start and revealed that he’d found the experience a little tough: “Just shortness of breath and trying to breathe and chill out.”
Sunday’s action might suck even more air from his lungs, yet it might also be a help to him to have already encountered such problems if he can learn from what he went through. “Same mindset,” he insisted of the fourth round. “I’m ready. Just get on green and make some putts.” Available at 300/1 in places before the off, he’s now down to 3/1.
His co-leader Schenk has been steady all week (66-67-67) and he explained having control of his ball was the key in the third round with ground “that feels like concrete”.
Asked what the winner will need to do on Sunday he said: “Definitely make some putts. You’re going to have some par putts. You’re going to have make some birdie putts from 10 to 20 feet. You’re going to have to roll in a couple that you normally wouldn’t or make some putts that you should.
“And probably who gets it off the tee the best. You’re not going to get lucky all day driving it in the rough, and you can only scramble so much around here with as firm as the greens are getting.”
Playing his 171st event on the PGA Tour, Schenk has 10 top 10s but it still looking for his first win. He’s landed just the one top 10 this season but he’s hoping it was instructive. It came when he was second in the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook. He led all week before being caught in the final round. He hopes the memories aid his victory push and he is also aware it was dry there, too, although not quite so much as this week. He’s generally 9/4.
The man on the shoulder of the leading pair, ENGLISH, is a touch bigger at 5/2.
He opened 65-66 before adding a 70 on Saturday but unlike the top two – Hall a first time visitor at Colonial, Schenk has never landed a top 40 in five tries – he has plenty of experience on the course. It’s good experience too: fifth in 2012, second in 2016, another three top 30s. He’s also gone sub-70 on Sunday in four of five laps with a 66 and a 67 in there.
A few years ago his game was in a great spot. Solid golf through 2019 and 2020 blossomed into two victories in 2021, then injury intervened and it’s been a tough road back. His four PGA Tour wins came at Southwind, El Camaleon, River Highlands and Plnation and the first three are neat for this week: they hint at liking a tricky test, a blowy one, one that is not dominated by driver.
Moreover, he said as much himself yesterday. After revealing that accuracy off the tee has been his problem since injury, he added that the conditions have allowed him to use a driving iron off the tee which has got him in position. “I’ve felt great with my game this week,” he said. “I feel like I know this course really well and I’m very comfortable out here. If I can keep that up tomorrow, I have a lot of chances at birdies and have a chance to move up the leaderboard. Hopefully, I’ll get that fifth win.”
He won the Tournament of Champions when sharing the lead, his other three wins came from one or two back, as did his second tier win. He can pounce again and is the pick at 5/2.
Looking at the last 25 winners at Colonial, two things are striking. The first is that the first man on the list is Tom Watson, whose 1998 triumph was his last on the PGA Tour. The second is that 22 of the winners were within three shots of the lead. That highlights the difficulty for this week’s chasers who are at least four back. On the other hand, last year’s winner Sam Burns was seven back (as he is currently). But before him, you have to go back to 2001 and Sergio Garcia for a winner who wasn’t within three with 18 holes to play.
True, conditions could lead to the nervous front trio (two non-winners and English on the comeback trail) over-steering, as if on icy roads. But it will also take something special to not do the same when trying to set a target.
Justin Suh shares fourth on 6-under with Ben Coley’s pre-event 80/1 pick Emiliano Grillo. Viktor Hovland, Kevin Streelman, David Lipsky and Byeong Hun An are in sixth on 5-under. Scottie Scheffler is one of half a dozen another shot back. Hovland has to be respected.
He’s yet to click in Texas but he lives and played college golf at next-door Oklahoma which has similar conditions (dry, windy). And I have a hunch about An who’s played well in windy, dry conditions, also posting low final rounds in them. Five back and 50/1 top price wasn’t tempting enough however.
Posted at 1015 BST on 28/05/23
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