The Punter's De-brief: Griffin hangs on to claim the spoils

• Pairs event proves to be a pointer in Texas

• Long odds-on shot Ferguson stumbles on the final hole

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• Read my Memorial Tournament preview here

Ben Griffin, who had been weak in the market before the off, drifting from an opening show of 65.064/1, all the way out to 95.094/1, was tied for the lead with 400.0399/1 chance, Matti Schmid, at the halfway stage of the Charles Schwab Challenge, and the pair were two clear of the remainder.

Both men started round three with three straight birdies and despite playing their remaining 15 holes on Saturday in one-over-par, they were still locked together and three clear of the field with 18 holes to play.

Griffin was trading at 2.166/5 and Schmid 3.3512/5, with the pre-event favourite, Scottie Scheffler, judged to be the most likely man in the field to catch them.

The world number one, who had been matched at a short as 2.021/1 after he'd opened the event with an eagle and a birdie on Thursday afternoon, was trading at just 12/113.00, despite trailing the leading pair by six strokes.

Colonial Country Club opens with a very gettable par five and a short par four. A fast start is almost essential, so the writing was on the wall for Scheffler when he opened round four with a birdie at one and a par at two.

Schmid birdied the opening hole, but he bogeyed the second and having holed a 14-footer for eagle at one before tapping in from two feet for a birdie at two, Griffin assumed command.

The 29-year-old led by three after just two holes and he was matched at as short as 1.091/11 but long odds-on backers were to endure quite a ride.

His birdie at two was the last of the day and after bogeys at six, seven, 13 and 16, he eventually won by a solitary stroke over Schmid, with Bud Cauley two shots further back in third.

Scheffler, who putted deplorably for the first two days, finished in a tie for fourth alongside Tommy Fleetwood, who had briefly threatened to finally win on the PGA Tour.

Fleetwood got to within a couple of strokes of the lead when he played the first nine holes of round four in four-under-par and he was matched at as short as 5.49/2, but in typical Tommy fashion, the charge faded on the back nine, after he'd bogeyed the par five 11^th.

Reitan rallies from off the pace

Ewen Ferguson had led the Soudal Open by two strokes with 18 to play and he was trading at around 1.784/5 to convert.

Sam Horsfield had won the event having trailed by a stroke with 18 to play but the other three course winners had all led with a round to go and it looked highly likely for most of the day that Ferguson would keep the trend going.

Norway's Kristoffer Retain, who began the day trailing by nine in a tie for 22^nd, was matched at 1000.0999/1 before he began his monumental move on Sunday morning but even after he'd posted his course record nine-under-par 62, it looked like Ferguson would just do enough to win.

He hadn't played as well as he had over the first three days but he hung in doggedly and when he tapped in for birdie at the short par four 16^th, it looked highly likely that he'd hang on.

Darious Van Driel birdied the last three holes to join Retain on -9 in the clubhouse but after Ferguson had hit a safe drive on 18, he was matched at a low of 1.041/25.

With around 100 yards in, all he needed to do was wedge it on to the green and take two putts to take the title, but he caught a flier from the rough and his approach flew over the back of the green.

After taking a drop from the hospitality tent, Ferguson hit a tentative chip up on to the green and when he missed the 10-foot par save, we were into extra time.

All three men parred the first extra hole before the pre-event 160.0159/1 shot, Retain, claimed his first DP World Tour victory with a birdie three at the second extra hole.

The moment @KristofferR_98 claimed victory for the first time on the DP World Tour 🇳🇴#SoudalOpen pic.twitter.com/n4UvzreUYw

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 25, 2025

It was a heartbreaking finish by Ferguson who had looked far and away the most likely winner for much of the weekend and it's a defeat that may take some time to get over.

Pairs event proves to be a pointer in Texas

Prior to the final round in Texas, Griffin spoke of how his victory alongside Andrew Novak in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pairs event a month earlier had given him believe that he could win an individual title and it was the second year in-a-row that the Charles Schwab Challenge had gone the way of Zurich Classic winner.

Davis Riley had caused a bigger shock than Griffin when he won at Colonial 12 months ago and his victory came just over a year after he'd won the Zurich playing alongside Nick Hardy. And like Griffin, Riley's win at the Charles Schwab Challenge was his first individual title.

Look to Kenya and Germany for clues in Belgium

With Fergoson and Van Driel making it to the playoff, and John Parry finishing tied for fourth, form at the intricate tree-lined Muthaiga in Kenya came to the fore once again at Rinkven but what was also noticeable this time around was just how well represented form at Golfclub München Eichenried was.

The last three winners of the BMW International at the tree-lined Golfclub München Eichenried - Ferguson, Thriston Lawrence, and Haotong Li - all finished inside the top four and ties and the last three runners-up in Germany all have form at Rinkven too.

Jordan Smith, who finished tied for second alongside David Micheluzzi behind Ferguson at the BMW last year, put in a charge yesterday (matched at a low of 3/14.00) before finishing tied for fourth, the runner-up to Lawrence in Germany in 2023, Joost Luiten, sat third at halfway in Belgium this year, and Thomas Pieters, who lost a playoff in Germany to Haotong Li three years ago, finished runner-up to Nacho Elvira in Belgium last year.

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