The Punter's Debrief: Henley lands PGA Tour win to deny Cole

12:30, June 1 - This week's golf results

PGA Tour: Henley birdies last three holes to deny Cole

In search of his first victory on the PGA Tour, it was impossible not to feel some sympathy for pre-event 100.099/1 chance, Eric Cole, on Sunday, who was matched at as short as 1.152/13 to win the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Having led by a stroke with 18 to play, Cole opened the final round with back-to-back birdies, and he composed himself nicely on the back-nine after a double-bogey at the ninth.

A birdie at the par five 11^th was followed by a run of pars and with all his closest challengers falling away, for much of the round he looked like he was going to do enough to win but then up stepped the pre-event 24.023/1 chance, Russell Henley, to spoil the party.

Henley had opened round four with an eagle at the par five first and a birdie at two, but he looked to have played his way out the reckoning after that, bogeying the next three holes before another drop at nine.

Like Cole, he too birdied the 11^th but after a run of four straight pars, he was matched at as high as 140.0139/1, as victory looked highly unlikely.

After three rounds, Henley had ranked first for Driving Accuracy, Greens In Regulation, Strokes Gained: Approach, and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, but only 52^nd for Strokes Gained: Putting and I wrote in the In-Play Blog that "if the putts start dropping for Russell Henley, he's going to be a threat today".

He left it very late, but they did eventually start to drop as he holed for birdie at 16 and 17 from 15 feet and from 16 feet for another at the 72^nd hole.

To his credit, Cole made a par at the last to take the event into extra time after Henley's devastating finish, but when he missed from 13 feet for a birdie three at the first extra hole, Henley rolled in his birdie putt from just inside five feet to seal the deal.

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DP World Tour: Rising Japanese star off the mark in Austria

Over on the DP World Tour, with the threat of stormy weather in the forecast, the Austrian Alpine Open started early on Sunday morning with the pre-event 55.054/1 chance, Kota Kaneko, leading by a stroke and trading at around 2.68/5 but he drifted out to as high as 6.86/1 after a slow start, as Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia emerged as the most likely victor.

Gouveia hit a low of 1.8810/11 when he stood over an eagle putt on the 10^th that would have seen him edge two clear of the field but after settling for a birdie four, he missed a par putt on 11 from three feet before parring his way in after that.

Play was suspended with Kaneko in trouble on the par four 15^th hole, although he was still the most likely winner at the time, trading at 2.3411/8.

At the resumption of play, he narrowly missed his par save there from outside 40 feet, but he put the event to bed with this brilliant chip in at the par three 16^th.

WOW, SURELY NOT!

Kota Kaneko chips in to re-take the solo lead when he'd all but given up on the shot #AustrianAlpineOpen pic.twitter.com/0D8ssbq0cU

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 31, 2026

The 23-year-old secured his maiden win by two strokes with a pair of pars at the tricky 17^th and 18^th holes.

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10:20 - May 31, 2026

With stormy weather in the forecast, the final round of the Austrian Alpine Open was brought forward today and the final three ball has already made the turn.

It's currently live on Sky and the home fans are cheering on Max Steinlechner and Bernd Wiesberger, who are both in-the-mix, but having gone out last night to watch the Champions League final, the early start has caught me out completely so I'm going to concentrate on the PGA Tour event now - the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 10:00.

Eric Cole -12 3.814/5
Ryan Gerard -11 6.411/2
JJ Spaun -10 7.87/1
Mac Meissner -10 11.521/2
Russell Henley -9 12.011/1
Hideki Matsuyama -9 14.527/2
Alex Smalley -9 15.014/1
Michael Thorbjornsen -8 44.043/1
Michael Brennan -8 60.059/1
Nico Echavarria -8 75.074/1
Mackenzie Hughes -8 90.089/1
Ludvig Aberg -7 38.037/1
Justin Thomas -7 60.059/1
Akshay Bhatia -7 80.079/1
-7 and 100.099/1 bar

Having averaged more than a shot under-par on day one and half a shot under on Friday, Colonial Country Club averaged more than a stroke over par in round three but there are always one or two players that manage to create something special despite the conditions and after a sensational seven-under-par 63 on 'moving day', Eric Cole has jumped up 24 places to hit the front.

This is the first time Cole has led through 54 holes on any Tour and he's in search of his first victory on the PGA Tour.

He's sat second, trailing by a stroke, with a round to go three times on the PGA Tour and he's been comfortably beaten on each occasion.

He was beaten by six strokes by Collin Morikawa at the Baycurrent Classic in October 2023, by seven by Ludvig Aberg at the RSM Classic a month later, and he finished fifth at the Sony Open last year, where he missed out on the playoff, won by Nick Taylor, by two strokes.

The 2024 winner, Davis Riley, was four clear at this stage and last year's victor, Ben Griffin, was tied for the lead with 18 to play but I'm happy to swerve this year's pacesetter.

It's not going to be easy to back up yesterday's super low round and I'm very happy to be onboard the man in second, Ryan Gerard, who birdied the last two holes yesterday to close the gap to just one.

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History suggests one of the front four will win

As highlighted yesterday, the 2022 and 2023 winners, Sam Burns and Emiliano Grillo, were trailing by seven and four strokes respectively with a round to go but unless conditions are really tough, history tells us that it's hard to make up ground here on a Sunday.

Chris Kirk in 2015, and Kevin Kisner two years later, both trailed by three with 18 to play before taking the title but 20 of the last 24 winners have been within two of the lead.

Although he trails by three, if the putts start dropping for Russell Henley, he's going to be a threat today.

After three rounds, the 37-year-old ranks first for Driving Accuracy, Greens In Regulation, Strokes Gained: Approach, and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, but only 52^nd for Strokes Gained: Putting so I'm happy to leave him alone.

Having backed Gerard at 14/115.00 yesterday, it's tempting to just leave the event alone now, but JJ Spaun is the value play with a round to go, and I was more than happy to back him at 7.87/1.

Having won the 2025 US Open from one back, and the Texas Open in April from tied sixth and two adrift, the 35-year-old knows how to get the job done and he'll be confident he can chase down the front two.

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08:20 - May 30, 2026

We've reached the halfway stage of the Austrian Alpine Open on the DP World Tour and the Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour so here are the two 36-hole leaderboards with prices to back at 7:50.

Austrian Alpine Open
Andrew Johnston -11 6.411/2
Calum Hill -10 8.07/1
Kota Kaneko -10 8.615/2
Rafa Cabrera Bello -10 14.527/2
Tom Vaillant -8 25.024/1
Marcel Schneider -8 29.028/1
Zanhan Zhou -8 32.031/1
Brandon Robinson Thompson -8 36.035/1
Alex Levy -8 46.045/1
Tobias Jonsson -8 50.049/1
Sepp Straka -7 11.521/2
Darius Van Driel -7 40.039/1
-7 and 65.064/1 bar

Charles Schwab Challenge
Jordan Smith -10 11.010/1
Hideki Matsuyama -9 9.417/2
Brian Harman -9 13.012/1
Michael Thorbjornsen -9 13.525/2
Ryan Gerard -9 15.014/1
Russell Henley -8 10.09/1
JJ Spaun -8 13.012/1
Alex Smalley -8 15.014/1
Akshay Bhatia -8 15.529/2
Brice Garnett -8 100.099/1
Mac Meissner -7 44.043/1
Michael Brennan -7 60.059/1
Mackenzie Hughes -7 80.079/1
AJ Ewart -7 110.0109/1
Ludvig Aberg -6 17.533/2
-6 and 60.059/1 bar

Both events look tough to call at halfway this week, but I've picked out a couple of modest halfway picks in each.

I'll start with the first one off today, the Austrian Alpine Open.

This is the first time that the wonderfully picturesque Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith has been used on the DP World Tour and the only time it was used on the HotelPlanner Tour was way back in 2003, so we have almost nothing to go on but I suspect the Austrian Alpine Open winner is already leading or close to the lead.

England's David Geall won his one and only title with a 23-under-par total in the Kitzbühel Golf Alpin Open here 23 years ago and he was always on the premises after leading by a stroke after round one.

He trailed by a couple of strokes after rounds two and three before a 62 on Sunday saw him win by three and low scoring events, like this one, tend to favour those up with the pace.

It's never easy to make up lots of places when the scoring is low and the course is likely to be scorable again today with the weather set fare.

The 36-hole leader, Andrew Johnston, heads the market but it's now more than 10 years since he won the Open de Espana at Valderrama and that's a bit of a concern.

Dogged by thumb injuries, Johnston has had extended periods away from the game of late and he's actually only played 45 times in total over the last five years.

After two rounds he ranks 20^th for Greens In Regulation and second for Putting Average so he's playing nicely but I'm happy to oppose him.

He hasn't been in-contention much over the last five years so that's against him and after his 62 on Friday, he's going to find it tough to go low again today.

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Pair chanced from three back at big prices

The home hero, Sepp Straka, who trails by four, is a huge danger but the two I like are just three back - the tournament specialist, Marcel Schneider, who has finished runner-up twice, and England's Brandon Robinson-Thompson, who was slightly unlucky not to win the Joburg Open in March.

Schneider, who led this event through 54 holes at Gut Altentann Golf Club last year, looks a fair price at 30.029/1 given how comfortable he is here in Austria and like Robinson-Thompson, he's playing nicely from tee-to-green so far and he just needs to putt a bit better over the weekend.

At the halfway stage, he ranks inside the top seven for Driving Accuracy, Greens In Regulation and Scrambling but only 37^th for Putting Average.

Robinson-Thompson ranks second for Driving Accuracy, first for Greens In Regulation and 10^th Scrambling but as poorly as 54^th for Putting Average.

If either man can continue their excellent tee-to-green game but start holing a few more putts today, they'll be bang in contention with 18 to play.

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Over on the PGA Tour, after two weeks of unseasonably wet weather, Colonial Country Club played soft and easy on day one and not much tougher on day two, with the field comfortably averaging below the par of 70 so the scoring has been lower than normal at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Justin Rose reached 20-under-par when he won here back in 2018 but -15 is the lowest winning score since then and neither of the 2022 or 2023 winners, Sam Burns and Emiliano Grillo, managed to get to double-digits under-par.

As perfect examples of how much easier it is to win from off the pace when conditions are tough, the 2023 winner, Grillo, trailed by four through 54 holes and Burns sat tied for 17^th and seven adrift after three rounds in 2022.

In contrast, when Rose got it to -20 eight years ago, he led by a stroke at halfway and by four after round three.

The last two winners, Davis Riley and Ben Griffin, were both in front at this stage, and although the weather forecast suggests we'll get a bit more wind today, it's still going to be tough to make up lots of ground on 'moving day'.

The leader, Jordan Smith makes no appeal at all given he's been somewhat flaky in-contention on the DP World Tour for years.

He's won a couple of titles but he's someone to take on in-the-mix and others are most definitely preferred.

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In-running stats point to Harman and Gerard

Given it's 8/19.00 the field, it's clearly a wide-open affair but the two I've chanced modestly are both sitting tied for second and just one off the lead - Brian Harman and Ryan Gerard.

Form at Deere Run, home of the John Deere Classic, holds up really well here so it's no surprise to see last year's JDC runners-up, Michael Thorbjornsen, on the premises but I just prefer the chances of the 2014 JDC winner, Harman, who has three top 10 finishes from 13 starts at Colonial.

As highlighted in the preview, the traditional stats that count here are Greens In Regulation and Putting Average and the Strokes Gained numbers to concentrate on are SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Putting.

Much like my two selections in Austria, Harman needs the putter to warm up over the weekend, but he ranks first for both GIR and SG: Tee-to-Green at the midway point and I thought he was just about fairly priced at 12/113.00 on the Betfair Exchange.

Ranking 17^th for Driving Accuracy and third for GIR, Ryan Gerard, who was tied for the lead after round one, is playing some very solid golf, and he's also putting nicely, ranking fifth for PA and fourth for SG: Putting.

Gerard who is only 26, was an impressive winner of the Barracuda Championship last year and he looks like a player to keep on the right side of.

He impressed me just before Christmas when he travelled all the way to Mauritius in an attempt to get into the world's top 50 to gain a spot in the US Masters, where he duly delivered, eventually losing in a playoff to Jayden Schaper.

He then performed admirably over the weekend in Hawaii in January, posting rounds of 68 and 65 to move form tied 10^th to second at the Sony Open.

He's a solid performer in-contention and his stats at halfway suggest he'll be there or thereabouts late on Sunday and I was also happy to chance him modestly too at 14/115.00.

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