June 5, 2020
It’s been a long time without any real sports action to watch.
We finally got a breath of fresh air with some exciting MMA action with UFC 249 a few weeks ago … but still, there hasn’t been any PGA Golf, no basketball, not MLB … pretty much no nuthin’. So, I can say with an air of severity, “golf, we need you now.”
Well, it’s all about to change. It looks like our favorite iron-swinging pros will hit the links in just two weeks – from time of writing this. So, what should we expect when PGA Golf returns?
Since You’ve Been Gone …
It’s been three months … about the time it takes to get over a breakup. But, we didn’t break up with golf, it was ripped away from us in order to ‘keep us safe’. The links have been a lonely place; haunted by the ghosts of the player’s past.
Since then we’ve seen some good things happen … and some very bad things. Despite being under complete and total lockdown, the state of New York saw the novel coronavirus sweep through metro areas and wreak havoc. But on the flip side, the golf community has given back, starting with the tens of thousands of dollars of food that was donated after the Players’ Championship was canceled.
Next up: Charles Schwab Challenge
From June 11th through June 14th at the Colonial Golf Course in Fort Worth, Texas we’ll get our first taste of PGA Golf in a fiscal quarter.
Last year, this tournament ran from May 23rd through the 26th and had a purse of 7.3 million dollars. This season, the purse is 7.5 million and the field should be even tougher. Americans went 1,2,3 last time around, with Kevin Na hoisting the trophy.
This is one of just five invitations on tour, and believe it or not, this stop goes all the way back to 1946. Because of its invitational status, there are 30 fewer players in the field than during a normal PGA event. So far the best record here is -21 set by Zach Johnson back in 2010. He shot a 259 over four rounds of golf.
Other recent winners are Justin Rose, in 2018; Kevin Kisner, in 2017; Jordan Spieth, in 2016; and Chris Kirk, in 2015. It should be noted that Justin Rose finished -20 in 2018, almost tying Zach Johnson’s record –- who’s won here twice in the last decade.
Remember how I mentioned the field would be tough this year?
There are now invites for eight of the World Ranking Top 10 and 16 of the Top 20. Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar have been invited but haven’t yet committed; they have until June 5th to do so.
However, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, and Shane Lowry are all committed, strengthening the field with their No. 4, No. 12, No. 16, and No. 20 rankings, respectively.
Other top names that have already committed and are added to the field are:
- Bubba Koepka
- Phil Mickelson
- Webb Simpson
- Jordan Spieth
- Bubba Watson
- Kevin Na
- Justin Rose
- Rory McIlroy
- Zach Johnson
- Dustin Johnson
- Jason Day
There aren’t any odds on this event just yet. We probably won’t see a full set of odds until the field is fully committed. But we should expect, Justin Rose, Zach Johnson, Kevin Na, Jordan Spieth, and Tiger Woods – if he commits– to be around the top of the list to win.
With this field, the Charles Schwab Challenge is going to be exactly that, a challenge. It will be interesting to see the dynamic of a completely silent golf course and if the lack of applause and chatter has any impact on the play? Could we see the best average score ever come out of the 2020 event?
It will be interesting at the very least. This is a complete aside, but watching a dead-silent, audienceless UFC 249 was kind of unsettling. When fantastic action ensued and big shots landed, there was no reaction. So, will it feel similar here when a perfect shot lands on the green and there is absolute silence?
On June 11th we’ll get to see.
