The Daily Spin – Charles Schwab Challenge
Are we now officially in the Brooks Koepka Era of golf? Over the last year, he has definitely inserted himself into the conversation for best golfer on the planet and with his win on Sunday, moved back into the #1 spot for the OWGR once again. It has been an extraordinary run these past couple of years and his career trajectory has been a lot of fun to watch going back to the early days in 2015 when he exploded onto the scene with an impressive win in Phoenix and then followed that up with a strong season where he became a darling of the DFS world with his ability to put up a ton on fantasy points week after week, even if he was not always in contention. Those days of seeing Brooks at a lower salary have now come and gone. It is hard to imagine that after winning four times in his last eight starts at major tournaments that we’ll see his priced below $10k at a big event for the foreseeable future.
Brooks is part of the new wave of players that stands out even among the other elites of the PGA Tour. If you look back at events 10 or 20 years ago, you will notice that golfers used to come in a variety of shapes and sizes. It was not unusual to see a number of players with the bodies of pro bowlers limbering around the course, but still remaining competitive from year to year. However, over time, things have changed in a fairly dramatic way. Yes, there are still some players out there that are not exactly shaped like Iron Man triathletes and some do still have some success from time to time, but what we are seeing now is that if players want to be on the elite level of play for any extended period of time, then taking care of their bodies must be a priority like never before.
Tiger was the forerunner of this revolution when he took over the game in the early 2000s. He embraced his fitness and strength training regimen with a maniacal focus to the point where it proved injurious to his success, but what he gained before going over the top with his Navy SEAL style training from 2006-2008 was a distinct advantage over the rest of the field. This revolution led to the redesign of courses all over the country and especially those with stops on the PGA Tour. As these courses were lengthened to compensate for the improved equipment and increased strength of the players, it changed the way all future players were forced to prepare themselves as professionals.
Players like Brooks Koepka, DJ and Rory McIlroy are just a few of the bigger names that have embraced strength training over the last decade and the results have been impressive. It is no wonder that when Brooks gives an interview the week prior to a major held at a course like Bethpage Black, that he can make a bold claim in stating that there are probably only 20 golfers that have a legitimate chance at winning that week. Given the way that most of the majors courses are designed, particularly those in the US, you just are not going to see very many players that win who do not have the strength to drive the ball over 300 yards in a consistent manner. Of course, now that I have brought it up, the next stop for a major is the US Open at Pebble Beach, not a long course by any means, but the vast number of other hosts have increasingly been courses that are longer and also play with rough so thick that it requires extra strength to get the ball back into play without it being overly punitive. Be sure to think about this trend in the years ahead as the majors roll around. It is probably worth limiting your builds of players that are normally very sound to invest in and to really focus on those particular players that are built for major tournament golf.
This week, we head back to Texas for one of the goofier named events of the year, the Charles Schwab Challenge, though it rolls off the tongue a little better than Dean & DeLuca so I suppose I will be happy for the upgrade. Usually, this is the time of year when we are lost in the doldrums for stretches, but it is a quick turnaround as things are quieter this week, but then ramp right back up with the Memorial next week and then two weeks later, the US Open is here. What this means for us is that there is not a lot of time to rest and relax before the big events ramp up again, although if you are following my advice of when to throttle up and down throughout the season, I would say that either this week or the Canadian Open in two weeks is a great time to take a little time away as we hit the heart of the season during the summer months.
Colonial Country Club in Forth Worth has been home to this tournament for many years. If you are confused about the name and think this is a new event, I am sure you are not alone. Last year, this was the Fort Worth Invitational. The two years prior to that, it was the Dean & DeLuca Invitational and from 2007 to 2015, it was known as the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. While there have been many changes in the name over the years, Colonial is actually one of the longer tenured stops on tour as it has hosted a tournament every year going back to 1946. It is a classically designed course that plays at just over 7,200 yards and at a par of 70. There are two Par 5 holes, one of which is a scoring hole at 565 yards while the other is on the lengthy side at 635 yards meaning that there are not many easy birdie opportunities on the course. There are a good mix of Par 4 holes with six playing above 440 yards, but also four that play at 408 yards or less meaning that players will have to possess a well rounded approach game from both short to intermediate distances in order to contend which is evident when you look at recent winners over the years from Justin Rose, Kevin Kisner, Adam Scott, ZJ and Phil Mickelson and see that most of those names are excellent with their middle range irons. The fairways are narrow and tree lined, but unlike last week, since it is a shorter course, driver can be left in the bag much more often allowing players to focus on hitting the fairway in order to be well positioned for an approach shot as the bentgrass greens are on the small side making them more challenging than normal to hit and hold.
Weather is normally a factor this time of year in Texas and this year will be no different. If you take a look at the Windfinder link here, you will see that winds are expected to be quite gusty on both Thursday and Friday. At this time, I am not seeing one wave that would be favorable over the other, but be sure to check back tomorrow at the hourly forecasts for both Thursday and Friday to see if there is an opportunity to exploit with the splits. Last week, the AM/PM wave scored two full strokes better than the PM/AM wave over the first two rounds of play, one of the bigger differences that we have seen this season so far. If you are not stacking tee times by this point, get into the habit of doing so now. It is going to give a group of your lineups a leg up over the rest of the entries some weeks. While the advantage may be small at times, other weeks, you are going to gain a stroke or two which will position you well for the weekend.
KEY STATS
Strokes Gained Tee to Green: 25%
Strokes Gained Putting: 20%
Birdie or Better Percentage: 20%
Scrambling: 15%
Proximity: 10%
Driving Accuracy: 5%
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