Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour betting tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and frequent guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on X at @LasVegasGolferand you can read his picks below for the 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge, which begins Thursday in Texas.
Two longtime friends and legendary golfers from the state of Texas have allowed us to travel from the annual Byron Nelson event to “Hogan’s Alley” at Colonial Country Club, home of Ben Hogan’s five career victories and what will be the 80th edition of the Charles Schwab Challenge this week on the PGA Tour — the longest golf tournament on the tour.
Colonial Country Club was designed by John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell and received a Gil Hanse/Jim Wagner renovation immediately following the 2023 tournament. This historic golf course now measures 7,300 yards and plays a par of 70. The fairways are narrow and tree-lined, bordered by Bermudagrass that is penally rough. The greens are small stones and fast, Bentgrass terrain. The test requires accurate tee placement, hitting the greens legally, and a hot putter.
I’m looking at Driving Accuracy this week, Strokes Gained: Approach, Greens in Control, and Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass). Since 12 holes are par 4, I looked for those that measure between 350-450 yards and considered Hole Proximity from 125-175 yards.
Colonial is one of the oldest, established, precision golf courses that doesn’t cater to bogeys and rewards the player who can dial in wedge play, hole putts, and avoid bogeys. We definitely see some similar tests on the Tour and crossover success on those leaderboards as well.
I like to start with Waialae Country Club, home of the Sony Open. Chris Kirk and Kevin Na are quickly remembered as the two leading players in Waialae and Colonial. Na, David Toms, and Zach Johnson won at both tracks. Matt Kuchar, Kirk, Jason Kokrak, and Daniel Berger are examples of highly successful players in each discipline. Sea Island (RSM Classic), Innisbrook (Valspar Championship), TPC Southwind (FedEx St. Jude Championship), and Pebble Beach are some courses I’ve used that show great consistency.
I believe we should also note as we get closer to this year’s US Open that many of the winners here at Colonial are US Open champions. It starts with Ben Hogan who has won multiple times in each area. More recently, Tom Watson, Corey Pavin, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose are examples of players who have won both tournaments. Keep an eye on the leaderboard this week as it may provide clues as to who might be ready to step out in a few weeks at Shinnecock Hills. I can tell you that I’m already betting on one very big shot to win next month’s US Open, the PGA Tour winner at Pebble Beach, TPC Southwind, and Colonial. We’ll have our article on Early Betting for the US Open here next week.
We went the long shot route last week at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and managed to get top 20 finishes in Stephan Jaeger and Taylor Moore. Since this week’s field also lacks a number of big-time stars, I’ll once again use the long-shot approach.
Ryan Gerard (70-1)
Gerard is one of the best golfers on Tour and that includes great accuracy off the tee. He has lost a bit of steam since starting the season with consecutive runner-up finishes but the first of those two runner-up finishes came at the Waialae Sony Open. He has now been cut in six straight starts, is a very good putter, and is exceptional in Hole Proximity from 125-175 yards.
Mac Meissner (70-1)
I almost made a play for Meissner last week at TPC Craig Ranch and he really had a solid week, finishing 31st and shooting three of four rounds in the 60s. He attended nearby SMU, so I have to believe he is familiar with this golf course and certainly golf in the state of Texas. He finished fifth here at Colonial in 2024. Meissner is a very good putter, is on a good trajectory, is ranked 25th on Tour in Scrambling, and 37th in Greens in Regulation. He is ranked 13th on Tour in Bogey Avoidance.
JT Poston (70-1)
Similar to last week, I want to lean on good putters again here in Fort Worth. Poston’s short game numbers are impressive this season for a player who has always used such skills as his strengths. He has top 10 and top 20 finishes in all relevant courses this week, including recent 10- and 12-place finishes here at Colonials. Poston lives in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia and coaches at Sea Island Golf Club, where he plays in the RSM Classic. While his short game numbers aren’t there this year, I can’t ignore that he has been a very good profile for this type of golf course.
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Eric Cole (90-1)
Cole is yet another player who checks the box for the short game that shines in the game. He is ranked 47th in Tour SG: Approach, 16th in SG: Putting, and 34th in Scrambling. Like Meissner, Cole also finished 31st last week and posted three of four rounds in the 60s. Before that he had two straight finishes of sixth and 14th. Cole finished fifth and 13th at the Sony Open, tied for third at Sea Island, 12th at Valspar, and was 22nd, 14th, and 15th at Pebble Beach.
Taylor Moore (115-1)
If you were playing our Moore selection last week in the First Round Leaderboard, you got the winning money as he fired a 62 at TPC Craig Ranch last Thursday. He ended up finishing 14th in the tournament and ranked 10th in SG: Placement. He is now trending in the right direction with 20-17-14 finishes in his last three games. He won the Valspar in 2023, the same year he finished fifth at TPC Southwind. Moore was also as high as eighth in the RSM Classic.
Lee Hodges (150-1)
The results in the Hodges related courses are the strongest of all our picks this week. He has never missed the cut here at Colony with his 12th finish in his career. He was sixth and 10th at Sony, fourth and fifth at Sea Island, 18th at Valspar, and 13th at FedEx St. Jude. He’s the only one we picked this week who doesn’t have the history or numbers of a great putter – but he’s ranked 57th on Tour for SG: Approach, 16th in Driving Accuracy, and is especially good at Hole Proximity from 125-200 yards.
