DFS Dish: Prepare to pay the 'Scheffler tax' this week at Charles Schwab Challenge

I’ve learned my DFS lesson with Scottie Scheffler ($13,700) in DraftKings DFS contests.

I cannot dismiss the world No. 1 regardless of field composition, event magnitude or massive purse. Ready and willing to take on major championship golf against the best fields or an event that requires a bushel full of birdies and 31 under to win, he is up to every challenge. He just loves to compete!

The Charles Schwab Challenge, played across town from his Dallas residence at Colonial Country Club, is the next hurdle. In five previous tries, Scheffler has never won the event, and he’s never won three consecutive starts on TOUR. After his last two performances, he might be the highest-owned player in DFS history.

The field of 135 players contains four more players from the top 20 and 14 total from the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings. On a course where scoring resembles 72-hole totals from major championships, I cannot willfully ignore him this week.

I will gladly pay the #SchefflerTax.

For the contrarians, Dallas native Jordan Spieth ($9,800) is not even the second choice on the board at DraftKings this week. The 2016 champ also owns three second-place paydays and has played this event since qualifying for the TOUR. The all-time money leader at Colonial Country Club produced his best payday of 2025 three weeks ago in the Dallas suburb of McKinney. Firing a final-round 62, he shared fourth but could not sustain the momentum over the last two weeks.

The 2020 winner, albeit in June during the return to golf amid the pandemic, Daniel Berger ($9,900) has not missed the cut in his last five visits and has not produced a result beyond T33 this season on TOUR. Cut-making machine Tommy Fleetwood ($10,000) is still searching for his first victory in his 156th start on TOUR. The par-70 set-up stretches a manageable 7,289 yards, but players must be able to work it both ways off the tees and into some of the smaller greens on TOUR. The Bentgrass greens, newly seeded for the 2024 event, must be navigated to contend.

J.T. Poston ($9,400) had solo second secured at Quail Hollow last week before he made bogey on the 71st and 72nd holes. Cashing T12 last year at Colonial, he arrives fully confident throughout his bag. Harris English ($9,200), already a winner this season at Torrey Pines, shared second last week, T11 at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, and T12 at Augusta National. He seems to enjoy the classic designs and Colonial fits. He was second to Spieth in 2016 and finished T5 on his debut in 2012. In nine starts, he’s made the weekend six times, and all have produced T30 or better results. Dallas resident Si Woo Kim ($8,900) produced red-hot form in his last four on TOUR, cashing T8-T17-T15-T8 the last four weeks.

The middle tier offers plenty of flexibility. Defending champion Davis Riley ($8,600) is fresh from sharing second at the PGA Championship. The last time Brian Harman ($8,500) played in Texas, he won the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. He’s 10-from-12 at Colonial and owns T31 or better from each result. Not having to play in a three-ball during a major championship with U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley this week, I would expect Andrew Novak ($8,200) to relax and let his game return to the high standards he’s shown in 2025. Harry Hall ($8,000) opened with 62 in 2023 and led after 18, 36 and 54 holes before finishing one shot out of a playoff. Entering the week off T19 at the PGA Championship and riding a wave of seven consecutive cuts made, he’ll enjoy a week on the Bentgrass putting surfaces.

When looking for clues, I found that the last six winners have all registered in the top 10 in Strokes Ggained: Putting for the week. Being a great putter doesn’t guarantee contending on the weekend, but it will save strokes to get there. Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,500) owns three consecutive T21 or better paydays at Colonial and is currently T14 in SG: Putting.

After missing the weekend in four straight events, Lee Hodges ($7,300) should be lonely in the ownership ranks. A tough week in a major is followed by a very familiar landing spot at Colonial. Making his fourth consecutive visit to Fort Worth, he bettered his T35 debut in 2022 with T29 in 2023. Last year, he earned T12 money. Winners have also slugged it from approach. Jhonattan Vegas ($7,200), the leader after 18- and 36-holes last week at Quail Hollow before settling for T5, cashed a T13 at TPC Craig Ranch two weeks ago. Chris Kirk ($7,200) is a past champion and so is Kevin Kisner ($6,200), for the course historians.

Mark Hubbard ($7,000), who did not qualify for the PGA Championship, is in my lineup this week. Over his last three events, he cashed T12 in the breezy conditions at Puntacana, followed by T5 in the shootout at TPC Craig Ranch. A last-ditch effort to qualify at the ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic resulted in T7. He’s never missed the weekend in six tries in Fort Worth. Joe Highsmith ($7,000) putted fantastically last week at Quail Hollow and earned a share of eighth place. David Lipsky ($6,300) cashed T9 in 2024 and T16 in 2024. Brandt Snedeker ($6,100) owns 11 paydays from 12 starts, if you need to go that route!

Here's how I would devise a six-man lineup this week, staying within the $50,000 salary cap for DraftKings contests:

• Scottie Scheffler ($13,700)
• Harry Hall ($8,000)
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,500)
• Lee Hodges ($7,300)
• Mark Hubbard ($7,000)
• David Lipsky ($6,300)