7 Stories From The Charles Schwab Challenge

Daniel Berger won his third PGA Tour title but there were some other big stories from Colonial

7 Stories From The Charles Schwab Challenge
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Daniel Berger won his third PGA Tour title but there were some other big stories from Colonial

7 Stories From The Charles Schwab Challenge

The PGA Tour returned last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge where Daniel Berger beat Collin Morikawa in a playoff to win his third tour title.

So, what did we learn?

There were some big stories like Rose's revival, Collin Morikawa's cut-streak continuing and many more.

7 Stories From The Charles Schwab Challenge -

Collin Morikawa

The young American only turned pro a year ago and has made 21 consecutive cuts, which is the second-longest streak in the last 30 years.

Morikawa looks to be a future star with a game showing no signs of weakness. This was also his second runner-up on the PGA Tour to go with his victory at last year's Barracuda Championship.

He is up to 27th in the world.

Jordan Spieth

The Texan is without a victory in nearly three years but looked like he was going to come close to ending that run at Colonial.

Spieth eventually finished T10th, which is his second top-10 of the year and maybe offers some hope that he is really beginning to find his game again.

He averaged over two strokes gained on the greens in each round this week, too, a huge improvement on his 0.134 average for the season.

Justin Rose

Like Spieth, Rose was another player we were looking forward to watch last week after a very poor start to his year with three missed cuts in four events.

In the break, he announced that he had officially parted ways with Honma and this starts a new free agency spell for him in terms of equipment.

It looks like he is close to his best already, and came so close to joining the playoff but his birdie putt agonisingly missed on the final hole.

It was great to see Rosey back.

Rory McIlroy

The World No.1 entered the week on a run of seven top-fives on the PGA Tour and he entered the weekend at Colonial in a great position to go on and win.

He shot one under on Saturday to remain in touch but then fell out of contention with a 74 (+4) in the final round to finish down in T32nd.

Rory has let a few chances of victory slip by this year and another fell by the wayside over the weekend.

"I got off to a really bad start. Hit a loose second shot on the first hole up to the right and then sort of messed around and took bogey there, so not the ideal start," he said.

"And then the wind was up today. You didn't have to be that much off for it to sort of show, and missed a couple of greens in the wrong spots and made bogeys."

Safe return

The PGA Tour successfully made its return in Texas, with zero positive Covid-19 tests recorded.

Players were avoiding handshakes with fist-bumps the new in-thing.

We also saw no fans on-site and, as a TV viewer, it didn't take away perhaps as much as we thought it would do.

It was certainly strange to not hear any cheers or clapping, but the golf, especially on Sunday, was highly entertaining just as it was.

The tour's charter flight leaves today for the RBC Heritage next week where players will be tested once again.

Bryson DeChambeau

DeChambeau may have now lost the tag of the Golfing Scientist and picked up the new name of bulked-up or beefed-up Bryson.

He vowed to gain muscle and that's exactly what he has done in the three-month Covid-19 break, adding 20lbs to his frame that was already growing.

It has resulted in some huge hitting distances, with an average driving distance of 340 yards for the week, 19 yards up on his 2020 season average, which was already 1st on the PGA Tour.

Is he now golf's longest hitter? Quite possibly.

DeChambeau also finished just one shot shy of the playoff, so there's no signs that his new bulky frame is having an adverse affect on his touch and short game.

Daniel Berger

And finally, it was a superb week for Daniel Berger who successfully built on a very good run pre-lockdown.

Berger has now recorded 28 consecutive rounds under par on the PGA Tour and won his first title in three years after injury and form struggles.

The 27-year-old may fancy his chances of making the Ryder Cup team, especially if he can add another win.

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

Elliott is currently playing:

Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV