Ben Griffin has plenty of reasons to be fond of Colonial Country Club.
The iconic venue was the site of his first solo win on the PGA Tour last year. That victory helped Griffin vault into the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time and secure a place on the United States' Ryder Cup team.
But Griffin also enjoys Colonial for the thorough test it provides the field. He managed to win the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge despite going 4 over in his final 16 holes.
Griffin and a reasonably strong field of contenders will tee off for this year's Challenge on Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas.
"Yeah, this is one of the best courses on tour that rewards being aggressive, in my opinion, that rewards being aggressive and punishes being off and not pulling those shots off," Griffin said.
"There's a lot of holes here, a lot of doglegs where you can challenge the doglegs and hit driver. Of course, when it's soft you can be a little bit more aggressive and you know you're not going to run out on some of these fairways. But you can attack a lot of these pins. And there are pins that are tucked in corners that, when it's soft, you can be aggressive. But if you don't pull it off you're going to short side yourself and it's going to be a lot more difficult."
In other words, the winning score this week won't reach 30 under par or better, as it did at nearby TPC Craig Ranch at each of the last two editions of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
"You got fairways that slope in certain directions, when it gets firm it's really hard to hold them, similar to Aronimink that we saw two weeks ago," Griffin said, referring to the recent PGA Championship host. "I think it's got a good blend of a lot of different golf courses and challenges a lot of different parts of your game."
Some Texans opted to play last week's Byron Nelson and take this week off, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth. But seven of the world's top 20 players are in town, chief among them Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, reigning US Open champ J.J. Spaun and fan favourite Justin Thomas.
Colonial (par 70, 7,289 yards) was restored three years ago, and this will be the first time Thomas sees the course in its updated state. But wet weather in Texas leading into the event is expected to leave the course softer.
"It definitely is one of those events I think a lot of people would play if it fit the schedule more," Thomas said.
'NICE TO BE UP THERE'
There are only three weeks left until the third major of the year, the US Open. This also marks the last week for players to qualify for the next signature event, the Memorial Tournament, via the Aon Swing 5 pathway.
One player now gearing up for bigger events on his schedule is Alex Smalley. While the 54-hole leader at the PGA Championship couldn't hang on to win an out-of-nowhere first major title, his tie for second qualified him for some signature events, plus the US Open and the Open Championship.
"(These) last couple of months or so have been really good," said Smalley, who spent a week off sorting out his lodging for the upcoming majors. "I feel like most of my game has been really solid, kind of firing on all cylinders in each aspect. And then just being up around the lead in a couple events gets you a little more comfortable when you're in that situation again and I find myself – I found myself there a few times the last few weeks, and it's certainly been nice to be up there."