Following the PGA Championship, the Tour heads to Forth Worth, Texas this week for the Charles Schwab Challenge, held at the freshly renovated Colonial Country Club. It’s a classic venue with a modern facelift, thanks to a $20 million overhaul by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner that aimed to restore some of the original 1941 U.S. Open character. Narrow fairways, doglegs, and a heavy emphasis on shot placement make Colonial a true positional test — and with just two par 5s on the scorecard, birdies won’t come easy. Let’s dive into my PGA DFS picks and core plays for the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Course Preview
With just 133 players in this invitational field, there’s a better chance of getting all six golfers through the cut in DFS contests.
The course plays as a Par 70 at just under 7,300 yards, and features 12 par 4s, making mid-iron approach play and Par 4 scoring a key focus.
Good Drives Percentage / Driving Accuracy and Greens in Regulation are all strong indicators this week – along with SG: APP and SG: Putting (Bentgrass).
Scottie Scheffler headlines the field and will once again have the Texas crowd on his side. He’s joined by several big names — including Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood, and defending champ Davis Riley — but the revamped layout may open the door for some under-the-radar names to make noise.
I’ve crunched this week’s numbers using Stokastic’s PGA Sims Tool – a powerful resource that simulates every hole and builds out thousands of lineups based on our projections. It helps highlight the golfers showing up most often in winning combinations, making it much easier to lock in your core plays and uncover sneaky value. If you’re aiming to build optimized DFS lineups, this tool is a game-changer.
Let’s dive into the Charles Schwab Challenge picks that I’ll be building my lineups around this week on DraftKings.
PGA DFS Picks: Charles Schwab Challenge DFS Picks & Core Plays
PGA DFS Picks: Charles Schwab Challenge DFS Picks & Core Plays: Aaron Rai – $9,100
There’s a reason Aaron Rai carries a higher price tag this week — his game fits Colonial Country Club perfectly.
Over his last 36 rounds, Rai ranks 1st in Driving Accuracy and 5th in both SG: Total and SG: Approach. He’s also 16th on tour in Greens in Regulation Percentage this season, reinforcing just how dialed in he is with his irons.
Our data backs it up, too. In our latest PGA Sims run, Rai shows up in 27.3% of our Top-300 lineups — the highest exposure of any golfer in the field. He’s quietly put together a strong season, finishing inside the top 30 in 7 of 12 starts, including a T-4 at the Mexico Open.
In a field without a deep pool of elite names, this could be the perfect setup for Rai to shine.
Si Woo Kim – $8,900
Si Woo is flashing major upside this week. According to our PGA Top Golfers Tool, he’s got the second-highest optimal percentage on the slate (21.3%) and carries solid leverage (+5.6%), meaning he’s showing up far more often in winning lineups than the field expects.
Over his last 36 rounds, and among this field, Rai ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Total and 13th in both SG: Approach and Driving Accuracy.
He’s also trending in the right direction, finishing T-17 or better in each of his last four starts — including a T-8 at both the RBC Heritage and last week’s PGA Championship.
While his track record at Colonial isn’t overly impressive, the course renovations and his recent form could be the key to a breakout showing this time around.
PGA DFS Picks; Charles Schwab Challenge DFS Picks & Core Plays: J.J. Spaun – $8,400
J.J. Spaun brings serious upside into this week’s event. Over his last 36 rounds, he ranks 4th in SG: Approach, 8th in SG: Total, and 36th in Driving Accuracy. He also sits 24th on tour in Greens in Regulation Percentage this season.
Spaun has had quite the season so far – highlighted by a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy at The Players, a runner-up finish at the Cognizant Classic, and a T-3 at the Sony Open to start the year.
In our latest PGA Sims run, Spaun showed up in 20.3% of Top-300 lineups with a healthy +8.6% leverage score. Can this finally be the weekend where Spaun ends up at the top? Let’s invest to find out.
GPP Flier: Nicolas Echavarria – $7,000
This will be my second time rolling with Nicolas Echavarria as my dark horse pick — and I’m hoping he can hold his own once again.
The last time I featured him was at the Valspar Championship, where he entered Sunday tied for the lead before finishing T-16. Now, he’s popping once again in our PGA Top Golfers Tool with a 16.3% Optimal Rate and +9.2 leverage — extremely noteworthy numbers for someone in his price range.
Over his last 36 rounds, Echavarria ranks 7th in SG: Putting and 39th in Driving Accuracy. He’s flashed upside a few times already this season and this could be another spot where he makes some noise.
