Hey, golf gods: Thank you.
Look, we were fine with easing our way back into the PGA TOUR season with any ol’ kind of leaderboard, just as long as it offered live golf on our TV screens all weekend for the first time in three months.
We never expected … this.
Perhaps proving that good thing come to those who wait, we’ve been given a major championship-caliber leaderboard entering the final two rounds of the Charles Schwab Challenge.
It’s almost worth the lengthy shutdown and quarantine. Almost.
Let’s take a look at this star-studded list of contenders and find a few solid plays for Saturday’s third round.
GOLF PROMOS FOR THIS WEEKEND! Bet $50, Win $100 if your golfer makes ONE birdie and Bet $10, Win $50 if ANYONE birdies 18 on Sunday!
Outright winner: Xander Schauffele (+800)
Outright winner: Daniel Berger (+2000)
The top-five on the oddsmakers’ boards entering the weekend look like this: Rory McIlroy (+400), Bryson DeChambeau (+500), Jordan Spieth (+550), Xander Schauffele (+800) and Justin Thomas (+900), with tourney leader Harold Varner III (+1100) tied for sixth.
Those are obviously some big names and pretty low odds, which is an unfavorable combination.
If I absolutely had to make a play on one of those guys, though, I’ve got the best feeling about Schauffele at that number. He plays some of his best golf when the game’s biggest stars are contending, so here’s another chance to shed that silly underrated label.
Going a bit further down the list, I also don’t mind a live play at the current price on Berger, who sits just three strokes off the lead and similarly loves competing with the big boys. So far this week, Berger ranks second in strokes gained on approach shots, just one-hundredth of a point behind Gary Woodland, which should be a strong barometer for how he’ll play the final 36 holes.
