Justin Rose looks to defend his title and go back-to-back this week at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge, formerly known as the Forth Worth Invitational. Rose shot a six-under 64 in the final round to win last year's tournament by three strokes over Brooks Koepka. Rose, a 10-time PGA Tour winner, enters this week's event as the favorite at 9-1 in the latest 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge odds. However, a loaded 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge field that includes Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele, who are all going off at 16-1 or shorter, also has high hopes for this tournament that tees off from Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth on Thursday. The latest 2019 Charles Schwab Classic weather is calling for sunny skies with a slight chance of rain for Friday's second round and temperatures in the upper 80s. Before you lock in any 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge picks of your own, listen to the PGA predictions from the team at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed five majors entering the weekend, including Brooks Koepka's historic victory at the 2019 PGA Championship. It also called Tiger Woods' deep run in last year's PGA Championship despite being a 25-1 long shot. The model has been spot-on in the 2018-19 season as well. It was high on champion Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship, projecting him as one of the top two contenders from the start. It also correctly predicted Koepka's (9-1) victory at the CJ Cup earlier this season. Additionally, it correctly called Bryson DeChambeau's (9-1) seven-shot victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Anyone who has followed the model is way up.
Now that the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. One huge shocker the model is calling for: Jordan Spieth, the 2016 champion and one of the top Vegas favorites, doesn't even crack the top five.
Spieth is coming off a strong performance at the PGA Championship where he finished third after opening with back-to-back rounds under par. The 11-time PGA Tour winner has had success at Colonial Golf Course in recent years and will enter the Charles Schwab Challenge 2019 full of confidence after earning his best finish of the season at Bethpage Black.
However, the 25-year-old has failed to win a tournament since his triumph at the 2017 Open Championship and finished outside the top 25 in 11 of his last 14 starts on the PGA Tour this season. His troubles can be directly attributed to his inability to find the fairway off the tee. He enters the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge ranked 204th in driving accuracy percentage (51.94), which could cause major trouble at Colonial. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in this loaded 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge field.
Another surprise: Paul Casey, a 25-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
Armed with an Official World Golf Ranking in the top 15, the 41-year old Englishman comes to Colonial playing extremely well. In fact, he won the Valspar Championship and finished in the top 10 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and Wells Fargo Championship. He's zoomed all the way up to No. 6 in the FedEx Cup standings and is also No. 6 in money at $3.57 million this season.
Casey's strong finishes in his most recent outings should come as no surprise. In fact, he has recorded five top-10 finishes this season. His driving accuracy percentage is what makes him a strong play at Colonial Country Club. He ranks 13th on the PGA Tour in that department, hitting almost 70 percent of fairways off the tee. That's helped him nearly nearly 70 percent of greens in regulation this season, which results in more birdie opportunities. He's a long shot that could climb the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge leaderboard quickly.
Also, the model says three other golfers with massive 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge odds of 25-1 or longer will make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the latest odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full Charles Schwab Challenge projected leaderboard from the model that nailed the winners of five golf majors, and find out.
Justin Rose 9-1
Jon Rahm 12-1
Jordan Spieth 14-1
Rickie Fowler 14-1
Xander Schauffele 16-1
Francesco Molinari 20-1
Tony Finau 25-1
Paul Casey 25-1
Bryson DeChambeau 25-1
Louis Oosthuizen 33-1
Kevin Kisner 33-1
Rory Sabbatini 40-1
Ian Poulter 40-1
Jason Kokrak 40-1
Emiliano Grillo 50-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 50-1
Scott Piercy 50-1
Brandt Snedeker 50-1
