The CJ Cup Picks and Predictions
The CJ Cup will have a new host for the second time in the last three years. This tournament was initially held at beautiful Nine Bridges on Jeju Island in South Korea in 2017. There were three CJ Cups held at Nine Bridges until COVID made the only PGA Tour stop in Korea impossible to continue. In 2020 and 2021, the CJ Cup was held at different clubs in the Las Vegas area, but it has moved to Congaree Golf Club in Gillisonville, South Carolina for the 2022 edition. That means you can’t rely on players’ previous scores in this competition as an indicator of success as Congaree is an entirely new track for this tournament.
The 2022 CJ Cup will be held from October 20-23 at Congaree Golf Club in Gillisonville, South Carolina. This course is located in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, and designer Tom Fazio made sure to highlight the sand present in the region. There is very little rough, but there are hundreds of bunkers and miles of sand, so accuracy is needed to stay out of trouble. This is a par 71 course that measures at 7,655 yards, but the fairways are very drivable. There are no cuts at this event, so a bad early round doesn’t eliminate you from the competition.
- Scottie Scheffler to Win the Event (+1400)
- Viktor Hovland To Finish Top 5 (+425)
- Max Homa to Beat Sam Burns (+100)
Scottie Scheffler to Win the Event (+1400)
This will be the first event for the 2021-22 PGA Tour Player of the Year this season. Scottie Scheffler is coming off a banner campaign that saw him win four events and finish T2 four more times. Scheffler missed the cut at the Scottish Open and the FedEx St. Jude Championship in the summer, but he closed out strong with a T3 at the BMW Championship and a T2 at the TOUR Championship two months ago.
Scheffler is among the second group of favorites here since he hasn’t fared well at links type courses. In addition to his missed cut at the Scottish Open, he finished outside of the T20 at The Open Championship. This will also be his first time teeing off at Congaree, but the value in the top-ranked golfer in the world at 14-1 is too good to pass up.
Viktor Hovland To Finish Top 5 (+425)
One of the biggest hitters on the PGA Tour has the potential to chew up Congaree. Viktor Hovland is coming off a T5 finish at the Zozo Championship last week, and he finished T4 at The Open Championship back in July. Hovland was in contention to win that major on the final day until a 74 on Sunday ruined his chances. Although this is his first shot at Congaree, he has plenty of familiarity with links style courses, so he is a real threat to earn his fourth PGA Tour win.
Max Homa to Beat Sam Burns (+100)
Max Homa has been pretty impressive over the last year. He won the Fortinet Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship last season, and he finished T10 on five occasions. Homa repeated as the winner of the Fortinet Championship last month, and he is coming off a T20 finish at the Shriners Children’s Open two weeks ago where he went 67-67-69-67.
Meanwhile, Sam Burns has been struggling since the summer. His best finish over the past four months was a T19 at the BMW Championship, and he failed to win a session at the Presidents Cup. Burns only had one sub-70 round at the Sanderson Farms Championship two weeks ago, so I’ll go against him.
