Top Golf Pick: Lee Hodges to Win Outright (+10000) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
Here at Bookmakers Review, we investigate this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge which comes hot on the heels of last week’s PGA Championship. Discover your best bets with the latest odds provided by the top-rated sportsbooks for the long-standing event at Ben Hogan’s stomping ground, Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.
We’re backing two players chasing their second PGA Tour win below, so read on for an in-depth analysis to help you decide on your golf picks.
Charles Schwab Challenge 2024
May 23–26, 2024 at Colonial Country Club
Course Notes
- Colonial Country Club – Fort Worth, Texas
- Par 70, 7209 yards
- Designed by Perry Maxwell and John Bredemus in 1936 (renovated in 1999 and 2010)
- A narrow tree lined track with several doglegs that require the players to be creative and shape their shots accordingly.
- The greens are smaller than average Bentgrass and often elevated.
- A plotters strategic test where power off the tee is negated for accuracy.
- Key Stat – Greens in Regulation
Roll of Honour
Weather Conditions
Historically, Colonial is a course that cannot be overpowered by the modern player or technology advancements, and players with course experience who have the guile required to have their optimum conditions this week in Texas.
Why Austin Eckroat Loves Texas?
We are still in the early stages of Austin Eckroat’s career, but he has already made my list of players who love playing their trade in Texas.
Last year, the twenty-five-year-old from Oklahoma's rookie season managed to retain his playing privileges primarily due to a runner-up finish at the Byron Nelson Classic to Jason Day. Straight on the back of that career best effort at the time, Eckroat finished 16th here at Colonial on his course debut.
Colonial at Fort Worth is a track where experience is a huge positive and with that in mind, last year’s debut was highly encouraging. Eckroat returns this year in much better form with his world ranking climbing to a career-high #48 after last week’s top 20 finish at the PGA Championship.
That did not account for most of his upswing in ranking, it was an impressive maiden PGA Tour win at the Cognizant Classic back at the start of March that saw Eckroat make the top 50.
With many of the leading players feeling a little bit let down from their expectations after trailing Xander Schauffele last week in the PGA Championship, this looks like a great opportunity for Eckroat to book a second PGA title.
So, back Austin Eckroat to win this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.
Golf Pick: Austin Eckroat to Win Outright (+6000) at Bovada
Golf Pick: Austin Eckroat to Finish in Top 10 (+600) at Betonline (visit our Betonline Review)
Is a Second PGA Win Close for Lee Hodges?
Yes, I believe that a second PGA Tour win is close for Lee Hodges despite not posting a top 10 finish in 2024.
Last year was a breakout one for Hodges who won his first PGA Tour title, the 3M Open by seven strokes.
The twenty-eight-year-old from Huntsville in Alabama endured a difficult start to 2024, with four missed cuts in his first seven outings and he had to wait until the second week of March for his first top 20 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Since which, Hodges has slowly built his confidence in such a way that he finished 12th in last week’s PGA Championship, and considering he finished with a bogey on 17 and par on 18 when missing putts of six feet or less on both holes, his finishing position flatters to deceive.
It’s Hodges's efforts here the last two years that require respect, with 29th in 2023 and 35th in 2022. The 2023 effort last year is eye-catching given he was in the higher echelons of the leaderboard after 36 holes and fell away over a testing weekend.
Lee Hodges's 3M Open win came on his preferred Bentgrass greens, last week’s strong major championship effort was again on Bentgrass and this week we stay on his preferred surface.
For your best bets at the Charles Schwab challenge add Lee Hodges at the Bovada price of (+10000).
Golf Pick: Lee Hodges to Win Outright (+10000) at Bovada
Golf Pick: Lee Hodges to Finish in Top 20 (+500) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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