Some day Tucker Wadkins and Dru Love may look back at this and have the fondest memories of this being where a great PGA career got its start.
The duo have been chosen as the Colonial Champions’ Choice Invitees to this year’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, the first year the tournament will bear that name after Charles Schwab and Company took over corporate sponsorship. The tournament celebrates its 73rd championship this year, with festivities May 20-26 (the actual tournament is May 23-26).
This continues the long-running tournament tradition of champions voting in two players who are promising young professionals who have never before been eligible for the prestigious invitational event.
The champions selected Wadkins and Love from a crop of talented young players who are trying to establish themselves as career professionals.
Wadkins, 26, played his college golf at Arizona State and competed on the Mackenzie
Tour in 2018, the tour headquartered in Canada. His father is 1988 Charles Schwab Challenge champion Lanny Wadkins. The pair won the 2015 PNC Father/Son Challenge in a playoff.
Love, 25, ironically, was in that Father/Son playoff with his dad, Davis Love III. They
teamed up to win the event three years later in 2018. Love is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and qualified to play in the 2017 U.S. Open Championship.
The younger Wadkins is following in his father’s footsteps with this honor. Lanny Wadkins made his Colonial debut as a Champions’ Choice in 1986, and won his first PGA Tour event one year later.
Colonial champions have done well over the years with their picks, and some choices have returned to win the tournament later in their careers. Other Champions’ Choice invitees who made their professional debut in Fort Worth with this honor include Paul Azinger, Billy Mayfair, Mark O’Meara, Curtis Strange and Stewart Cink.
Six years ago, 2015 Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth was invited as a Champions’ Choice. He later became the 2016 Colonial champion, and a three-time champion in major tournaments.
Bryson DeChambeau got a Champions’ invite in 2016 and is now among the top 10 in the world.
In all, 75 of the former 129 choices have become PGA Tour tournament winners,
racking up 415 victories and 28 majors. This year, a purse of $7.3 million awaits the final field of 120 contestants at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Tickets are on sale now at www.charlesschwabchallenge.com and at local Tom
Thumb and Albertsons stores.
Among the pros expected to play this year are:
Byeong-Hun An
Alex Noren
Abraham Ancer
Louis Oosthuizen
Kiradech Aphibarnrat
Ryan Palmer
Ryan Armour
Rod Pampling
Aaron Baddeley
C.T. Pan
Bronson Burgoon
Pat Perez
Paul Casey
Kenny Perry
Cameron Champ
Scott Piercy
Stewart Cink
Tom Purtzer
Keith Clearwater
Andrew Putnam
Corey Conners
Jon Rahm
Austin Cook
Chez Reavie
Ben Crane
Justin Rose
Joel Dahmen
Sam Ryder
Jason Dufner
Rory Sabbatini
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Xander Schauffele
Jim Furyk
Charl Schwartzel
Brice Garnett
Ben Silverman
Brian Gay
Brandt Snedeker
Doug Ghim
J.J. Spaun
Lucas Glover
Jordan Spieth
Talor Gooch
Scott Stallings
Emiliano Grillo
Kevin Streelman
Bill Haas
Steve Stricker
Chesson Hadley
Brian Stuard
Tyrrell Hatton
Justin Thomas
J.J. Henry
Michael Thompson
Tim Herron
David Toms
Charley Hoffman
Martin Trainer
Billy Horschel
Kevin Tway
Beau Hossler
Peter Uihlein
Sungjae Im
Tyrone Van Aswegen
Zach Johnson
Harold Varner III
Si Woo Kim
Tucker Wadkins
Whee Kim
Jimmy Walker
Michael Kim
Boo Weekley
Chris Kirk
Mike Weir
Kevin Kisner
Colt Knost
Jason Kokrak
Anirban Lahiri
Andrew Landry
Danny Lee
Adam Long
Dru Love
Graeme McDowell
Troy Merritt
Ryan Moore
Kevin Na