Golf Tips: Best bets for Charles Schwab Challenge and Soudal Open

• Steve Rawlings backs Scheffler for more success

• Dave Tindall backs Aaron Rai as each-way shout at 33/134.00

• Course info, first round leader, outsiders to back at over 100/1101.00

Charles Schwab Challenge tips and predictions

The Punter's Preview: Superb Scheffler all set for Colonial success

Steve Rawlings: "The 2022 playoff protagonists, the runner-up, Scottie Scheffler, and the winner, Sam Burns, ranked first and third for Driving Distance and the 2021 winner, Jason Kokrak, ranked first for DD but that's unusual.

"Davis Riley ranked as high as 18^th last year but as demonstrated by the 2023 winner, Emiliano Grillo, who ranked 66^th for DD, this is not a track that can be overpowered and length off the tee is usually an irrelevance.

"Colonial is short by modern standards and there are just two par fives. Irons are taken off several tees and the average DD ranking of the ten winners before Kokrak was exactly 30^th. Driving Accuracy is a more important stat than DD and that was the case again last year after the changes...

"There's a chance Scottie Scheffler might be fatigued after his victory last week but he's very professional and he's shown on numerous occasions that he can maintain a run of form.

"Scheffler won his first major title at the US Masters in 2023, a fortnight after winning the now defunct WGC Match Play in his previous start. He defended the Players Championship one week after he'd  won the Arnold Palmer Championship last year. After finishing runner-up at the Houston Open in his next start, he won the US Masters and the RBC Heritage in consecutive weeks.

"Although that produced a set of figures reading 1-1-2-1-1, Scheffler has never won three events in-a-row but it's only a matter of time before he does and he has a fabulous chance to achieve the feat here.

"His victory in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, where he was odds-on after nine holes of round one and a 1.01 chance with 18 to play, certainly didn't take much out of him and that was now three weeks ago. He's back in the sort of form that saw him win seven in 12 last summer and he's just won at a venue that he wasn't familiar with."

Each-way picks from 33/1 to 80/1

Dave Tindall: "Aaron Rai certainly fits the bill here as a fine ball-striker and that's the starting point for a punt at 33s.The Englishman comes in off a very decent tied 19th in the US PGA following a 23rd in the Truist. Rai ranked first for Approach at Quail Hollow while season-long he's 20th for Approach, 21st Tee To Green and 35th Off The Tee. He's slightly below Tour average for Around The Green.

"The man from Wolverhampton is playing here for the fourth year in a row and has some sparks of promise in his finishes of 32-12-68. He was 10th with a round to go in 2023. This is just his second start of the campaign in Texas but it's a state where he's performed strongly. Rai has a pair of top sevens in the Houston Open while he was fourth in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last year.

"It will inevitably come down to putting. He ranked 17th for SGP at the Truist but lost strokes on the greens in the US PGA. A winner at the Wyndham Championship last year, Rai has something (a PGA Tour victory) that second favourite Tommy Fleetwood does not so there's no reason to panic down the stretch.

"With six top 25s in his last nine starts, this steady improver can get in the mix again and make a big challenge."

First Round Leader Tips from 35/1 to 80/1

Dave Tindall: "I have a feeling Jordan Spieth will be holding some pent-up anger after his bid for the Grand Slam at week's US PGA ended early.

"Spieth crashed out at halfway and cut a frustrated figure but some of that was regret as he went home after a Friday 68, not quite enough for him to recover from his day one 76.

"But what better way to get rid of all that by shining again in his own back yard.

"Spieth is a two-time FRL at Colonial and has been in the top 10 after 18 holes no less than seven times.

"At last month's Texas Open he was fourth after day one so, although it's an obvious play, backing Spieth could very well be a worthwhile one at 35s. 

"He begins his bid at 7.55am from No.10."

Course and current form stats

Andy Swales: "Following the completion of the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, architects Gill Hanse and Jim Wagner undertook a $25m restoration project of the course. Numerous elevated greens were lowered to match the surrounding terrain, while bunkers were given a significant facelift. A few new bunkers were also added during this extensive upgrade while irrigation has been improved, which will help the Bentgrass putting surfaces to flourish.

"Colonial is situated around two-and-a-half miles south-west of Fort Worth city centre, close to the Trinity River. Water comes into play on six holes, much of it on the back nine, while its tree-lined fairways provide plenty of subtle changes in direction. In addition to the 76 previous stagings of this event, which began shortly after World War Two, Colonial has also hosted the US Open (1941) and Players' Championship (1975)....

"World No 24 Brian Harman 50/1 has the game to prosper at Colonial. With length off the tee hardly an issue, the former Open Championship winner will fancy his chances. The 38-year-old has posted a brace of podium finishes in 2025, including a victory at last month's Texas Open. Although his record at Colonial is mixed, there have been four T15s from 12 attempts."

Soudal Open tips and predictions

The Punter's Preview: Kruyswijk the selection at 84/1

Steve Rawlings: "Despite last year's Driving Accuracy stats, this is still a track where players that have prospered on tight layouts have thrived.

"Otaegui, who won here in 2018, was a very impressive winner of the Andalucía Masters at Valderrama in 2021 and form at both Karen Country Club and Muthaiga in Kenya has come to the fore too. All three venues are fiddly tree-lined tracks.

"For the last two years, the Kenya Open has been staged at Muthaiga, and last year's winner there, Darius van Driel, was runner-up here in the Belgium Knockout. The man that beat him in the final, Guido Migliozzi, won the Kenya Open at Karen before he won here in 2019.

"The 2022 winner of this event, Horsfield, finished eighth in the Kenya Open and third in the Kenya Savannah Classic at Karen in consecutive weeks in March 2021...

"As he was always top of my list here, I'm going to view Jacques Kruyswijk's qualification to Oakmont on Monday as a positive, especially given he's trading at a bigger price than I'd have been happy to take.

"The South African was a disappointment when missing the cut when selected in Turkey last time out but he was in decent form before that and the fact that he won the Kenya Open as recently as February is a big plus given the strong course correlation.

"Kruyswijk didn't make it through to the match play stage on the two occasions that he appeared in the Belgian Knockout here, in 2018 and 2019, but he wasn't in great form on either occasion and I'm happy to overlook that."

Each-Way Tips: 125/1 Kinhult a big price among the trees

Matt Cooper: "Sweden's Marcus Kinhult won his first DP World Tour title at Hillside, a track at less than 7,000 yards with bent grass (and a bit of fescue) on the greens. He's also got top 10 finishes at Crans, Wentworth, Valderrama and PGA Catalunya (plus T12s at Galgorm Castle and Glendower), layouts that combine one, two or three of the short, bent grass and tree-lined characteristics.

"There's another nice link between the five winners at Rinkven - they've done very well in the Kenya Open and it makes sense because that event's hosts Karen and Muthaiga are tree-lined tracks that play short. Kinhult is 5-for-5 at making the cut at Muthaiga (he hasn't played Karen), a record that includes T12 on debut and eighth in 2022 when second with 18 holes to play. He was also top 20 through 36 holes this February.

"What of the course? He missed the cut in 2019 shortly after his Hillside win (a victory that defied some rotten form). He also missed the cut last year when not playing too well. But in 2023 he was playing much better and was T22 including a 66 to open with which had him sixth on Thursday night."

Course and current form stats

Andy Swales: "Rinkven will be making its sixth appearance on Tour, following its debut in 2018. The course is relatively flat, has tight, tree-lined fairways, and is not long by modern Tour standards. Its greens are smaller than the Tour average, as well as undulating.

"Water comes into play on nine holes (the majority of these are on the back nine), and there is a sprinkling of interesting dog-legs to keep the mind sharp. Once again, the players will tackle a composite layout taken from the club's North and South courses. Last year's course featured six par-four holes of under 400 yards.

"Rinkven first came to prominence in 2010 when the North Course hosted an event on the Challenge Tour which was won by England's Lee Slattery. The club has existed since 1981, with the final nine holes added in 2006.

"Hao Tong Li's 25/1 excellent season continued when he tied-for-second on his most recent DP World Tour outing in Turkey. The 29-year-old from China, and four-time Tour winner, is currently a healthy fifth in the Race to Dubai standings, assisted by his victory in Qatar during February."

Read the Punter's in-play blog for the latest from this week's event