Scottie Scheffler may have failed to add a second Major title to his name after finishing tied for second at last week’s PGA Championship, but it didn’t stop him moving back to the World No.1 position.
He appears in the Charles Schwab Challenge this week, hoping to build on that achievement at Colonial Country Club.
The 26-year-old’s finish at Oak Hill was the latest in a string of impressive performances in 2023, including victories in two of the year’s highest-profile tournaments to date, the WM Phoenix Open and The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
While Scheffler is looking put the disappointment of last week’s near miss in the past with victory here, the player who shared his finishing position in the PGA Championship had even more reason for despondency.
Scheffler trailed eventual winner Brooks Koepka by four going into the final round. That’s in contrast to Viktor Hovland, who needed to claw back just one shot on the LIV Golf player as they teed it up on Sunday.
At times, it had looked as though momentum was swinging in Hovland’s favour, too. However, disaster struck on the 16th when he failed to get a shot out of the bunker, which left Koepka and opening he took with both hands. Still, the performance was enough to see Hovland leap five places in the rankings to World No.6, and he’s the second-ranked player behind Scheffler this week.
It takes something special to steal the headlines from the eventual winner of a Major, but Michael Block managed just that. The club pro defied the odds to finish tied for 15th at the tournament, guaranteeing not just a raft of new fans, a handsome pay cheque, and a place in next year’s tournament, but also an invite to this week's event. There will be plenty of attention on the 46-year-old as he attempts to prove those heroics, which included an outrageous slam dunk hole-in-one, were not a one-off.
Scheffler, Hovland and Block take big enough stories into the week, but that’s before we even get to the defending champion, Sam Burns, who beat Scheffler in a playoff in 2022. The American missed the cut at last week’s tournament but could barely have hoped for a better opportunity to get back on track after his victory a year ago.
Nevertheless, if overcoming the World No.1 and World No.6 isn’t enough, not to mention the potential for Block to cause another big upset, Burns also has to contend with the challenges of World No.7 Max Homa, 2016 Charles Schwab Challenge victor Jordan Spieth, and World No.12 Tony Finau, who recently saw off Jon Rahm to win the Mexico Open.
Other strong contenders are likely to be World No.19 Sungjae Im and the man four places behind him in the rankings, Tommy Fleetwood.
When you include other notable names including two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa, Arnold Palmer Invitational champion Kurt Kitayama, and Justin Rose, who not only finished tied for ninth at Oak Hill but also won the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2018, this is a field to be reckoned with, even for a tournament without designated event status.
There are other former winners to look out for, too, including Kevin Kisner, who won in 2017, 2015 winner Chris Kirk, and US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, who won in 2010 and 2012.
Players are competing for a purse of $8.7m, an identical sum to the Farmers Insurance Open. The winner will receive $1.56m.
Below is the prize breakdown and field for the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.
Charles Schwab Challenge Prize Money
Charles Schwab Challenge Field
- Alexander, Tyson
- An, Byeong Hun
- Baddeley, Aaron
- Bezuidenhout, Christiaan
- Bhatia, Akshay
- Blair, Zac
- Block, Michael
- Bramlett, Joseph
- Buckley, Hayden
- Burns, Sam
- Champ, Cameron
- Cole, Eric
- Compton, Erik
- Coody, Pierceson
- Daffue, MJ
- Dahmen, Joel
- Davis, Cam
- Detry, Thomas
- Donald, Luke
- Dou, Zecheng
- Duncan, Tyler
- Eckroat, Austin
- Endycott, Harrison
- English, Harris
- Finau, Tony
- Fleetwood, Tommy
- Fowler, Rickie
- Fox, Ryan
- Frittelli, Dylan
- Gordon, Will
- Gribble, Cody
- Griffin, Ben
- Grillo, Emiliano
- Haley II, Paul
- Hall, Harry
- Hammer, Cole
- Hardy, Nick
- Harman, Brian
- Henley, Russell
- Herbert, Lucas
- Hickok, Kramer
- Higgo, Garrick
- Higgs, Harry
- Hodges, Lee
- Hoge, Tom
- Homa, Max
- Horschel, Billy
- Hossler, Beau
- Hovland, Viktor
- Hubbard, Mark
- Im, Sungjae
- Jaeger, Stephan
- Johnson, Zach
- Kim, Michael
- Kim, S.H.
- Kim, Si Woo
- Kirk, Chris
- Kisner, Kevin
- Kitayama, Kurt
- Kizzire, Patton
- Knox, Russell
- Lashley, Nate
- Lee, K.H.
- Lee, Min Woo
- Lingmerth, David
- Lipsky, David
- List, Luke
- Long, Adam
- Lower, Justin
- Malnati, Peter
- Martin, Ben
- McCarthy, Denny
- McNealy, Maverick
- Merritt, Troy
- Moore, Taylor
- Morikawa, Collin
- NeSmith, Matt
- Noren, Alex
- Norlander, Henrik
- Norrman, Vincent
- Novak, Andrew
- Palmer, Ryan
- Piercy, Scott
- Poston, J.T.
- Putnam, Andrew
- Rai, Aaron
- Ramey, Chad
- Reavie, Chez
- Riley, Davis
- Rodgers, Patrick
- Rose, Justin
- Ryder, Sam
- Sabbatini, Rory
- Scheffler, Scottie
- Schenk, Adam
- Schwab, Matthias
- Shelton, Robby
- Sigg, Greyson
- Smalley, Alex
- Smotherman, Austin
- Spaun, J.J.
- Spieth, Jordan
- Stallings, Scott
- Stevens, Sam
- Straka, Sepp
- Streelman, Kevin
- Suh, Justin
- Tarren, Callum
- Taylor, Ben
- Taylor, Nick
- Todd, Brendon
- Tway, Kevin
- Van Rooyen, Erik
- Walker, Jimmy
- Wallace, Matt
- Werenski, Richy
- Westmoreland, Kyle
- Willett, Danny
- Wu, Dylan
- Young, Carson
Who's In The Field For The Charles Schwab Challenge?
Several of the world's best players are in the field for the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge including World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, World No.6 Viktor Hovland and World No.7 Max Homa. Three-time Major winner Jordan Spieth also plays along with last year's winner Sam Burns. However, perhaps the participant who will generate the most interest is Michael Block. The club pro made headlines in the PGA Championship by finishing tied for 15th.
Where Is The Charles Schwab Challenge?
The event is being held at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas - its home since 1946. Players will be faced with a course that features small, undulating greens, tree-lined fairways and doglegs.
