2023 Charles Schwab Challenge Picks

Happy Wednesday to ya, and welcome to Shanks. To the two dudes who won the SC Putters… You need to email me back to claim your reward or we will have to select new winners. Check your email and look in spam for [email protected]

Here's what we've got for ya today:

• Doin Lines: Charles Schwab Challenge

• Brooks Coach Fires Back

• LIV Goes To Trump National

• Golf Shots Heard Round The World

• The Time Beer Ads Got It Right - Golf Edition

• Golf Data

• Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

Doin Lines: Charles Schwab Challenge

After a grueling PGA Championship, the pros are heading back down to the great state of Texas this weekend.

Some folks don’t like to bet the week after a major because of player fatigue, weaker fields, what-have-you.

Well, that sh*t don’t fly around here! We’re gambling.

🚩 Location: Colonial Country Club

💰 Purse: $8.7M - Winner gets $1.56M

👑 Previous Winner: Sam Burns

⛳️ Field: 121

👀 Watch On: Golf Channel, CBS, ESPN+, Paramount+

Let's Gamble

After a cold streak that included the entire golf season, Shanks has picked winners for the last two weeks in a row. We are going to attempt to make it three, which no golf newsletter has ever done before, just believe us.

The Course

Colonial Country Club is a classic, tree lined beauty that usually holds up decently well against the pros.

Anytime you’re playing golf in Texas, wind is a potential factor at this 7200yd par-70, but this weekend it looks reasonable.

Like last year, the Dallas area has been pretty dry, so expect firm and fast conditions.

A lesser known detail is that Dallas-area golf fans usually show up in droves for this event. They’ll be there to cheer on Spieth and Scheffler, the two Texas boys, all weekend.

Big Brain Analytics

The real focus this week is less analytical, and more focused on the post PGA Championship hangover.

The last three years of results, while a limited sample size, do seem to indicate that it’s tough for players who were in contention at the PGA to get back up for The Charles Schwab.

💰Shanks Picks💰

Outright Winner: Justin Rose +2800 via BetMGM and Jordan Spieth +1400 via BetMGM. Spieth performs well here, he doesn’t have a win this season, and both he and Justin Rose have won the event previously. Spieth was not at all in contention last week, and Rose had a stronger performance.

Top Five: Justin Suh +1600 via BetMGM

Top Ten: Eric Cole +500 via BetMGM

Long Shot: How could we not take Michael Block here? +30000

Brooks Coach Calls Out Brandel

Alright, so a little context first. On a recent Golf Channel segment, host Brandel Chamblee (talk about the ultimate golf douchebag name) explained how he does not think LIV golfers should get to represent their country in the Ryder Cup.

Brandel has been very outspoken about his distaste for LIV from the word go.

Watch the clip here.

Obviously, Brooks Koepka’s coach took issue with that statement.

“Harmon III, or CH3 to his friends, has coached some of the biggest names in golf and on Sunday he nabbed his eighth major as a swing instructor —the 2012 British Open with Ernie Els, five majors with Brooks Koepka (three PGA’s and two U.S. Opens) and two with Dustin Johnson (U.S. Open and Masters). Harmon is the Director of Instruction at Butch Harmon Floridian and runs the Claude Harmon III Performance Golf Academy in Dubai” - Source. 

Okay, so tell us what he said!

“Brandel is a paid actor by NBC and Golf Channel. All he’s trying to do is get his lines and shows for the Golf Channel. He’s just trying to get lines for Brandel … And I mean, I love him, I think Eamon is a fantastic writer, but for Eamon Lynch and Brandel Chamblee, who worked for NBC Golf Channel to utter the words ‘sports washing’ when the company they work for televised the last two Winter Olympics in Russia and China with the same leaders that they’ve had. It’s not like they were good leaders back then. It’s not like Putin was a good guy, right?”

Read The Full Story Here.

LIV Goes to Trump National

Fresh off a Major win at the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka and the rest of the LIV Tour are headed to America’s capital, Washington DC. Now at the halfway point through the season, the LIV players will try their hand at Trump National Golf Club which features a ton on beautiful views along the Potomac River, a 210-yard par-3 (signature hole) and a 310-yard par-4 for those who want to maybe drive the green!

With the weather forecast is looking so nice with highs between 72 and 77 and little to no chance of precipitation, team and individuals are for sure going to be looking to shoot low in hopes of bettering their chances at a team or individual playoff spot at the end of the season. Check out team and individual standings here. 

According to the latest LIV Golf D.C. odds from Caesars Sportsbook, Brooks Koepka is listed as the favorite at +750. He is followed by Cameron Smith (+800) and the winner in Tulsa two weeks ago Dustin Johnson (+1100) while Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Reed, and Talor Gooch are all at +1600.

My pick has got to be Cam Smith. He looks like he’s back to playing his best and most consistent golf. Although I keep seeing this +2800 on Jason Kokrak who I continue to be high on. He had a slow start to the season finishing 19^th and 38^th but has since gone 12^th , 11^th , 6^th , and 11^th and it feels like his consistent play could get hot very soon.

Catch LIV Golf – Washington DC live on Friday May 26 on The CW App and LIV Golf Plus. Then May 27-28 (Saturday and Sunday) live on The CW Network, The CW App,

Golf Shots Heard Round The World

Two Timer: Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg wins 2023 Ben Hogan Award, joins Jon Rahm as only two-time winner.

Sergio Qualifies: Sergio among 8 to qualify for U.S. Open; Carson Young blitzes Dallas field with 3s.

Block Party Continues: Michael Block: Text from Jordan biggest surprise of new-found fame.

The Time Beer Ads Got It Right

Thanks to marketing talent and writer Jack Appleby, I was able to learn about one of the most interesting marketing and golf stories I’ve ever read, all while mindlessly scrolling Twitter. I’ll highlight the important parts for you…

• If you see in the photo above, there’s a man, let’s call him “Beer Guy”, just enjoying the moment, holding a Michelob Ultra, and watching Tiger Woods hit a shot right in front of him. All while there are over 2 dozen others filming the shot with their phones

• Michelob Ultra took this awesome photo and quickly transformed it into a cinematic looking social post which turned out to be one of their highest performing posts in like a year

• “Beer Guy” got his own shirt, the top grossing merch product in 2022 for Michelob Ultra

• He was also sent to the next PGA Tour event, basically as a celebrity cameo on behalf of Michelob Ultra, who earned 4.9 million earned media impressions, 663k organic video views, 30k organic social mentions, and spent $0 on paid media, ALL BECUASE OF “BEER GUY”

Moral of the story? Sap a bevy and enjoy some golf. You never know where it can take you. And let’s not forget that owner of Michelob Ultra, Anheuser-Busch (ahem… Bud Light), can still make some pretty stupid PR moves.

Golf Data

We found this piece from Data Golf to be pretty interesting.

Is Brooks Koepka the ultimate antidote to analytics nerds?

Last week we published a plot visualizing the skill distribution of the past three decades of Major Champions. Heading into the 2023 PGA Championship, we estimated Koepka's skill to be just +1.0 strokes-gained (without course fit/major bumps), which places him—yet again—in the mid-to-lower section of the distribution. It continues the broader theme of Brooks routinely transcending his perceived skill level to win and contend at golf's biggest events.

After a brief hiatus, the mystery of Major Koepka lives on.

Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

Consider this the first official Shanks Gear Review. In this case, it’s because I may or may not have lost two range finders last season and had to purchase a new one.

You get distance, slope, and it vibrates when you’re locked on to the pin.

It also comes with a nice little carrying case that attaches to your bag, so you don’t lose it like a total drunk asshole.

$399.99 via Bushnell

That's all folks! See you Friday.