2023 Charles Schwab Challenge First Look: Updated Odds & PGA Tour Picks for Viktor Hovland, Justin Rose, Cam Davis

Brooks Koepka added to his Hall of Fame resume on Sunday at Oak Hill as he captured his third PGA Championship and fifth major title.

Koepka battled Viktor Hovland for much of the final round, but the American ultimately pulled away after a tough-plugged lie left Hovland with a double bogey on the par 4 16th. Koepka closed out the victory with a par on the last hole to win by two shots. He'll be back playing with all the big PGA Tour names in four weeks at the US Open from Los Angeles Country Club.

In the meantime, there are some fun tournaments leading up to the US Open. It starts this week at Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge.

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Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth headline the field as they continue to tee it up any time the TOUR stops in Texas. Scheffler should be a strong favorite once again after he closed the gap to finish T2 alongside Hovland at the PGA Championship. His 5-under Sunday matched the best round of the week and will propel him right into a tournament where he finished as the runner-up in a playoff to Sam Burns last year.

I could write a bunch about why Scheffler is the man, but I think we'll get a number way too short to bet. Instead, I'll focus on a few players coming in with form — and course history — who could take down the World No. 1.

First Look

Viktor Hovland

Only one player was more impressive than Viktor Hovland at the PGA Championship — Brooks Koepka.

Hovland showed how good he can be when he does enough around the greens to be field average. He did even better than that at Oak Hill, where he gained strokes around the greens in each round, including 1.59 strokes on Sunday. Hovland's ball striking has always been elite, but his short game has been a glaring weakness. Though I'm not quite ready to buy that he's figured it all out, it's great to see him execute that part of his game across an entire event.

The good news for him heading into Colonial Country Club is that around-the-green play is typically of little importance to the top of the leaderboard. He'll be a great fit, but we'll need help to get a good number on him to start the tournament.

There's some worry about potential hangover from the PGA, but for me, it's going to be all about the number because he is close to capturing another win.

Justin Rose

There's going to be talk about whether players who were in contention at the PGA are going to be drained mentally and physically after the grind at Oak Hill. Justin Rose is one of the guys who could be lumped into that thought process, but I try not to put too much into narratives.

Instead, I will focus on the great play from Rose — he gained nearly seven shots on the major championship field with his approach play. He dropped back from his starting position on Sunday, but it didn't have anything to do with his irons as he put together his best day on approach, gaining 2.54 shots on the field.

It was a continuous trend for him as he improved on approach in every single round — if he can carry that positive momentum into the Charles Schwab, he could win the event for a second time. I'm hopeful we get decent, mid-level odds on the Englishman. His combination of form and course fit make him a potential top value for me.

Cam Davis

It was a difficult start to 2023 for Cam Davis, especially after he showed so much promise during the fall swing. He's always had the talent to be in a higher tier on TOUR, but he's lacked the consistency to produce high-level results.

He attributed his slow start to the year to illness, but it seems like he's past that after posting a T4 finish at the PGA. He's now logged three top-seven finishes in his last six tournaments.

Davis has made the cut each of the past two years at Colonial Country Club — he finished T7 last year. He enters this tournament fresh off a week in which he gained more than a stroke per round on the field in every metric tee to green. That's an impressive feat in a major field and shows just how well he is playing.

I'll be interested to see how much oddsmakers are taking notice of the Australian when odds drop on Monday, but I expect we find enough value to add him to the betting card.