“Between Bets” is an article series revealing our staff’s best wagers across the NFL, NASCAR and PGA Tour. This editon’s bets feature our favorite wagers for the Charles Schwab Challenge 2024.
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Charles Schwab Challenge 2024 Betting Picks
Tony Finau (+2500)
Tony Finau started out this season a little rough. It wasn’t horrible, just painfully average. He has found a little bit of something over the last six weeks. Namely, his approach game. He gained 9.6 strokes at the PGA Championship and finished 18th. The rest of the game wasn’t as red-hot, but it was far more consistent across the board.
He has struggled off the tee this season, but that risk may be somewhat mitigated at Colonial Country Club. He can take less than driver and focus on the approach. Finau rates out third in the field for greens in regulation and eighth in the field for opportunities gained over the last 24 rounds. He is dialed in. If we can get a flat week off the tee and with his putter, he will have every opportunity to win this week. I like Finau to rise up in this somewhat lesser field.
Akshay Bhatia (+5000)
Akshay Bhatia is my favorite outright bet this week. I love the way everything sets up for him. Bhatia has an iron game with elite shot shaping ability and is very accurate from the longer approaches and the wedge ranges. These are the two main ranges I am focused on for the Charles Schwab Challenge. Bhatia has also had a hot hand with his putter, except for last week at the PGA Championship. He had gained an average of 2.57 strokes in each of the previous seven starts. Bhatia rates out fourth overall in my model and is second to only Scottie Scheffler in overall approach. This is a perfect opportunity for him to get his second win of the season!
Aaron Rai (+5000)
Aaron Rai has been playing some seriously consistent golf this year. He rates out as No. 2 in the model for course fit at Colonial. Approach and accuracy are key here, and Rai has plenty of talent in both regards. He is No. 2 in fairways in regulation and sixth in greens in regulation. He also rates out sixth in overall approach and 10th in approach from 200+ yards.
One metric that Rai has that some of my other bets don’t is an excellent sand save percentage. Colonial Country Club has some of the smallest greens on Tour, and the course is home to over 80 sand traps. When players miss the green, they will be finding traps at times. Rai rates out 14th in this field in sand save percentage, so he is getting up and down when he has to. His accuracy and ability to bail himself out when he gets a little off track also land him in the No. 4 spot for bogey avoidance.
Rai may have the consistency in his game to tortoise and hare his way to victory. Slow and steady may be the key this week.
Lucas Glover (+5500)
No. 3 overall in my modeling this week is Lucas Glover. It’s been about nine months since I bet Glover. He was the hottest player on the planet during last year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs and was arguably unfairly left off of the Ryder Cup Team.
Glover is playing some really good golf, with the exception of his putting. This is not a new thing with Glover. Historically, he’s not the best putter in the world, but it’s not detouring me from him too much this week. He is trending closer and closer to a flat putting week and if that comes to fruition, he could very easily win this week.
His accuracy is some of the best in the field, boasting a 70% fairway-in-regulation rate and a 72% green-in-regulation rate. He is also No. 2 in this field for opportunities gained, getting a lot of looks at birdies. Glover is also No. 10 in this field for shots gained approach overall, and his two best ranges are 200+ yards and 125-150 yards, which are where nearly all of his approaches will be hit from this week. He is a bit of a gamble because we need the putter to cooperate a little more than some of the other players. Still, his approach and accuracy are too good to ignore. Glover could get back in the winner’s column this week!
Other Outright Bets That are on My Card for the Charles Schwab Challenge 2024:
- Collin Morikawa (+1200)
- Si Woo Kim (+3500)
- Tom Hoge (+4000)
- Keith Mitchell (+6500)
- Daniel Berger (+8000)
- Austin Smotherman (+2500)
Check out all of our content for the Charles Schwab Challenge 2024:
- Between Bets: Charles Schwab Challenge 2024 Outrights
- PropKings: Charles Schwab Challenge 2024
- PGA DFS: Charles Schwab Challenge 2024
Thanks for reading my best bets for the Charles Schwab Challenge 2024, and be sure to catch us live every Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on the 19th Hole! Good luck this week!
*Photo Credit: Ray Acevedo – USA TODAY Sports*
