FORT WORTH, TEXAS - MAY 31: Russell Henley of the United States celebrates after winning the Charles Schwab Challenge 2026 at Colonial Country Club on May 31, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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The PGA Tour continues to press on, and it also continues to deliver the drama for fans around the globe. As the tour went to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, TX for the 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge, it ended in a playoff.
The drama of a playoff is certainly enough to pique the interest of fans, but how it ended in a playoff is absolutely noteworthy.
Eric Cole seemed to have a stranglehold on the lead down the stretch on Sunday, but it was Russell Henley who came out of nowhere to birdie the final three holes to tie Cole at -12 and force a playoff. In the playoff it was Henley continuing his hot streak with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the tournament.
The victory was Henley’s sixth PGA Tour victory of his career, and the first of the 2026 season. Last year, Henley won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a signature event, and the Charles Schwaab victory puts him over $50 million dollars in career earnings.
While Henley’s story is worth sharing, Cole, who is the same age as Henley, 37, has had a difficult career with a tour win constantly eluding him. This wasn’t the first time Cole has lost in a playoff, he did so to Chris Kirk a few seasons ago. There are so many golfers like Cole on tour who have been good enough to get close, but just can’t finish the job.
Celebrating Henley’s tremendous play on Sunday, especially his back nine 31 in Round 4, is needed, but also feeling for a player like Cole who continues to search for their first win is also needed. However, Cole did win over $1 million dollars Sunday, to keep things in perspective.
Will Henley be a factor in upcoming tournaments like the Memorial and the U.S. Open? He has proven he can be as clutch as they come, and he proved as such at the 2026 Charles Schwab Classic. It’s time we take a look at our picks for the 2026 Charles Schwab Classic.
When it comes to picks for this event, I like to start with my favorite and long shot picks for the tournament. The favorite pick is the pick I like the most for an outright winner. For the long shot winner, that is a golfer who has over +2000 odds to win. It is a long shot pick for a reason, and finding those can be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Here were my favorite and long shot picks for the 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge:
Favorite: Ludvig Aberg (+1000) - MISS
Aberg entered the event as the odds-on favorite to win, but managed just a T17 finish. Aberg has proven he has the game to get the job done, and his record speaks for itself, but he has struggled to put four quality rounds of golf together in 2026. That struggle continued at Colonial CC.
Long Shot: Hideki Matsuyama (+3100) - MISS
After Friday Matsuyama looked like he was threatening the leaderboard, but the failed to make a move on the weekend. His T13 finish absolutely helped us in our other picks, but our streak of not hitting a long shot outright winner continues through another event.
Thomas had a slow start to the tournament, and even though he had a great weekend it proved to be too-little-too-late. Thomas finished T13 for the tournament, but it was a far cry from the Top 5 we predicted. I still like the way Thomas’ game is trending heading into the U.S. Open.
As I stated earlier, Aberg has continued to struggle with putting four rounds together this season. His T17 finish has me trending towards keeping him more in the Top 10 pick range, rather than Top 5, moving forward.
Griffin won this event in 2025, and he was the clubhouse leader at -11, but needed Eric Cole to falter down the stretch. Cole didn’t, but Griffin did enough to finish T3 and also to help us cash the Top 10 play for this event with solid odds.
On top of the win with Griffin in the Top 10, I had a feeling Spaun was going to be in the mix for this event. With a lot of the big-name golfers not in the field, Spaun has proven he can hang in fields like this one. He did just that, finishing T6, and helping us cash the Top 10 play at +290 odds.
Fowler entered the event as the 5th best odds to win, and he didn’t even make the cut. For someone providing just +110 odds for a Top 20 finish, this was the biggest shock of the tournament for me. Fowler continues to be a gamble pick based on his inconsistency.
My “gut pick” of the week cashes once again. Last week it was Keith Mitchell cashing as the “gut pick”, and this week it was Hideki providing the value. Matsuyama finished T13, and helped us cap off a solid tournament with the Top 20 play hitting at +134 odds.
For bonus plays, these are picks which I don’t necessarily hang my hat on, but still provide value for some who want more exotic plays outside of the aforementioned picks. Sometimes bonus plays are parlays, double chances, triple chances, and even some fun plays for that particular event.
Here were the Bonus plays for the 2026 the Charles Schwab Challenge:
Double Chance: Ludvig Aberg or Justin Thomas (+710) - MISS
Triple Chance: Ludvig Aberg, Russell Henley, Ben Griffin (+490) - HIT
Winning Margin: 3 Shots (+610) - MISS
Outright Plays: 3/8
Bonus Plays: 1/3
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