South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel has his sights set on Colonial Country Club this week, where he returns after a two-year hiatus. His lone outing to the Fort Worth golf course was a missed cut in 2013.
The 2011 Masters champ has played a light schedule this season and took a five-week break after missing the cut at Augusta National.
He made a return at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week, where he shot opening rounds of 68 and 67 at TPC Four Seasons. After a flat weekend he tied for 58th, indicating that there is room for improvement before the US Open.
This week the 31-year-old is grouped with tournament favourites Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth for the first two rounds. Schwartzel’s playoff victory at the Valspar Championship in March proved that he’s still capable of winning on the PGA Tour, but he faces the spotlight this week in the featured group.
The nine-time Sunshine Tour winner will surely feed off his playing partners in Texas, because good golfers often bring out the best in each other.
Schwartzel is one of the best ball strikers in the world, but this week’s $ 6.7-million tournament at Colonial will come down to putting. If he finds a decent rhythm with the flat stick then expect to see the 11-time European Tour winner in contention.
