{"id":668085,"date":"2026-05-27T13:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/668085\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:11:13","slug":"running-with-rick-putting-change-could-yield-more-returns-for-justin-thomas-at-charles-schwab-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/668085\/","title":{"rendered":"Running with Rick: Putting change could yield more returns for Justin Thomas at Charles Schwab Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

18H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4 Min Read<\/p>\n

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Golfbet News<\/p>\n

<\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Running<\/p>\n

Running with Rick: Longshots who can win Charles Schwab<\/p>\n

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A<\/p>\n

Change Text Size<\/p>\n

Written by Rick Gehman<\/p>\n

The TOUR will round out its quick trip through Texas this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where birdies will be at a premium compared to last week.<\/p>\n

Colonial Country Club usually offers a level of defense through tree-lined fairways and strategically placed water features. The winning score has averaged just 12.1 strokes under par across the past seven years, with single digits good enough in two of those editions.<\/p>\n

The field is headlined by Ludvig \u00c5berg (+1100), but he\u2019s not the only star teeing it up this week. He\u2019ll be joined by Russell Henley (+2000), Robert MacIntyre (+2100), Rickie Fowler (+2400) and Justin Thomas (+2600).<\/p>\n

While that is the top of the board, there are still plenty of talented players farther down offering value across a wide range of prices. Here are a few of my favorite plays for this week\u2019s Charles Schwab Challenge.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s at his best, Max Greyserman is a two-tool player who beats his peers with his driver and his putter. That\u2019s a fairly rare combination on the PGA TOUR, as most players don\u2019t excel with both the longest and the shortest club in their bag.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Max<\/p>\n

Max Greyserman’s 120-yard bunker shot sets up birdie on No. 1 at THE CJ CUP<\/p>\n

Greyserman is starting to get back to that profile, and the results are following suit. He\u2019s improved his finishing position in each of his last four starts: T38, T31, T14 and T9. During that stretch, he\u2019s also improved his Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee number in each of those starts, so this is all passing the sniff test of sustainability.<\/p>\n

While his putter still has room to improve, we cannot overlook the fact that Greyserman gained 11.2 strokes on approach last week, which was the best approach week of his career. His third-best career approach week came at the Charles Schwab Challenge last year, so Greyserman is looking to continue this momentum at a venue where he\u2019s already had plenty of success. He\u2019s my pick to win at +6200, available at DraftKings Sportsbook.<\/p>\n

If you prefer an outright option closer to the top of the board, Justin Thomas has the sixth-shortest odds at +2600 and has unlocked a new facet of his game.<\/p>\n

\"Justin<\/p>\n

Justin Thomas hits tee shot to 11 feet, sets up birdie on No. 17 at Truist Championship<\/p>\n

It was eight rounds ago when Thomas changed putter styles to mimic the version used by Cameron Young. The returns have been immediate, as Thomas has gained strokes putting in all eight rounds, to the tune of +10.52 in aggregate.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s always been the missing piece for Thomas, who turned those excellent putting weeks into a 13th-place finish at the Truist Championship and a T4 at the PGA Championship. I wouldn\u2019t have a problem clicking Thomas\u2019 name in the outright market, considering he\u2019s a 16-time PGA TOUR winner. However, I prefer him as a top-five play, which can be found at +520.<\/p>\n

Speaking of missing pieces, there is only one missing piece for J.J. Spaun, and it happens to be his play on the greens. Spaun has been magnificent from tee-to-green, gaining more than 27 strokes in his last eight starts.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s only gained strokes putting in three of those eight starts, but when he has, the results have been elite. It started with a T24 at THE PLAYERS Championship. Then he captured a victory at the Valero Texas Open before rounding it out with a T5 at the Truist Championship.<\/p>\n

If Spaun gains even one stroke, he\u2019s likely to be attached to the first page of the leaderboard. That\u2019s exactly what happened at the Charles Schwab Challenge last year. Spaun gained 1.4 strokes putting for the week and finished T6. I\u2019ll deploy him in the top-10 market this week, where he is currently priced at +290.<\/p>\n

Has Tony Finau found something? He gained more than 4.5 strokes off the tee last week, which was his best driving performance in more than two years. He followed that up with another 3.2 on approach and 2.5 around the green. It was a tee-to-green performance reminiscent of \u201cvintage Tony.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

Tony Finau’s 159-yard approach sets up birdie on No. 13 at THE CJ CUP<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly possible that this was an outlier performance, but you can\u2019t fake these numbers in a PGA TOUR event over four days. I\u2019m more convinced that he has found something that could be sustainable in the near future. If that\u2019s true, the timing couldn\u2019t be better for Finau to get to Colonial.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s gained 1.42 strokes per round in his 34 career rounds at Colonial, which is the best of anyone in this field with at least five starts. Finau comes with high levels of risk, so I\u2019ll settle into the top-20 market, where he is currently being priced at +250 on DraftKings Sportsbook.<\/p>\n

As you scroll down the betting board, don\u2019t scroll past Zach Bauchou, who is putting together a run of solid play right now. His last four events have all been T28 or better, with a seriously impressive T6 last week. His finish in Dallas was a \u201ccomplete gain,\u201d where he gained strokes in all four categories, displaying a proper well-rounded assault on TPC Craig Ranch.<\/p>\n

His last eight rounds alone have produced more than 13 strokes gained in tee-to-green play. He\u2019ll make his debut at Colonial this week, where he is +365 to finish inside the top 20.<\/p>\n

For resources related to problem gambling, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"18H AGO 4 Min Read Golfbet News *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Running with Rick: Longshots who can win Charles Schwab *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]>…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-668085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}