Charles Schwab Challenge 2023: First-Round Leader (FRL) Bets

The Charles Schwab Challenge is May 25-28 from Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Even though it’s not a designated event and it’s the week after the PGA Championship, several top players are in the field, including Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth.

Colonial Country Club is a par-70, 7,209-yard course, a classic tree-lined positional course where length isn’t necessary to win. Players who have had the most success are the ones who keep the ball in play off the tee, hit the majority of the greens and putt average-to-good on the Bentgrass greens.

The course record is 61, held by seven PGA pros, making low scores attainable.

Who could post the best score in Thursday’s first round? Below are my first-round leader bets for the week.

Charles Schwab Challenge: First-Round Leader (FRL) Bets

Scottie Scheffler +1100 First-Round Leader

The strategy of betting on the tournament favorite to lead after the first round has to pay off at some point, right? The value is too good to pass up, as Scheffler is +400 to win the tournament.

After a second-place finish at the PGA Championship, Scheffler could look to make a statement in the first round this week.

Tony Finau +2200 First-Round Leader

Finau’s had a ton of success at this event, including two top-4 finishes in his last four appearances. He has the ability to go low every time he tees it up, especially if his putter heats up.

He’s played a ton of golf lately, so this bet may be better than an outright win.

Viktor Hovland +2500 First-Round Leader

If Hovland can carry his momentum from the PGA Championship, he makes a lot of sense for this. The 25-year-old is playing some solid golf of late, with four top-10 finishes in his last seven events.

Hovland ranks second on the PGA Tour this season in first-round scoring average (68.08).