The CJ Cup boasts the strongest field to date in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season with five of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking teeing it up this week.
The event begins Thursday at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C., and our golf experts provide key tournament notes along with their best bets this week.
THE CJ CUP
Date: Oct. 20-23
Course: Congaree Golf Club, Ridgeland, S.C. (Par 71, 7,655 yards)
Purse: $10.5M (Winner: 1.89M)
Defending Champion: Rory McIlroy
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Saturday, 3-6 p.m. ET; Sunday, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Twitter: @TheCJCup
BEST BETS
–McIlroy (+700 at BetMGM) is making his 2022-23 PGA Tour season debut. After winning the Tour Championship, he posted three consecutive top-4 finishes in DP World Tour events.
–Jon Rahm (+900) is coming off a win at the Acciona Open de Espana following a T2 at the BMW Championship.
–World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+1200) played on the winning United States team at the Presidents Cup but is teeing it up in his first stroke play event since the Tour Championship.
–Justin Thomas (+1600) will be making his season debut and 200th start on tour. His odds have lengthened slightly since opening at +1400.
–Jordan Spieth’s odds have shortened from +3300 to +2800 as he has drawn the highest amount of total bets (8.3 percent) and money (19.8 percent) to win at BetMGM, making him the biggest liability this week at the sportsbook. He has also been backed by the single biggest wager — $5,000 at +2800 that would pay out $140,000.
–Sam Burns (+2500) is the third biggest liability, having been backed by 10.1 percent of the money.
–Collin Morikawa (+3000) is the second biggest liability with 6.8 percent of the total bets backing him despite a lengthy spell of mediocre form. The two-time major winner has more missed cuts (three) than top 10s (two) in his past 11 starts dating to April.
NOTES
–Congaree is the fourth different venue to host The CJ Cup, which is in its sixth season. The course played host to one previous PGA Tour event, last year’s Palmetto Championship that was won by Garrick Higgo, who is not in this week’s field.
–There are 17 players from South Korea playing this week, with the event providing spots to the top five qualifying players from the KPGA as well as the three highest-ranked players of Korean nationality in the Official World Golf Ranking who are not otherwise exempt.
–Twenty-one of the top 30 players in the OWGR are in the field, the highest rate of participation early in the 2022-23 season.
–Rickie Fowler (+6600) has two top-10s in three starts this season, equaling his total from his previous 58 starts.
–Field Level Media
