The PGA Tour Is Back With An ELITE Field For The CJ Cup At Congaree Golf Club

CJ Cup time! 

This is an event that was birthed a few years ago as the South Korean stop on Tour. With that nation continuing to make more and more of a presence on Tour, adding that event to the Tour slate made a lot of sense.

Then, of course, the pandemic hit. Travel restrictions forced the event to move to Vegas the past two years, and those restrictions have continued into 2022. That's led to this event being moved to Congaree Golf Club, a relatively new club off the shores of Hilton Head in South Carolina.

It's not the first time the Tour has gone to Congaree. Last year the Tour was left with a hole in the June schedule when the Canadian Open was canceled for the 2nd straight year. The Tour created a one-off event at Congaree called the Palmetto Championship.

Yours truly picked Garrick Higgo going off at +4000. It's the longest official pick I've made (win or lose) on this website and you better believe it hit. It was only Higgo's 2nd PGA Tour start and he locked up the a huge win to kick off his career. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to find himself in this limited field event. Tragic.

As for the CJ Cup, Rory is the defending champion having won at The Summit Club in Vegas last year by one stroke over Collin Morikawa.

It should be noted, like the Zozo last week, that this is a limited field event (78 players) with no cut.

Last year's leaderboards (both at the CJ Cup and at Congaree) and recent winners…

2021 CJ Cup Leaderboard

2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree Leaderboard

CJ Cup Winners

The Course

Congaree is a looong Tom Fazio Par 72 design playing as a par 71 this week measuring 7,655 yards. It was built about 5 years ago in the lowcountry of South Carolina and actually only has two official members - its founders Dan Friedkin and the now deceased former Texans owner Robert McNair. The club pretty much exists to unite 200+ wealthy ambassadors of the game (such as Mark O'Meara) with underprivileged youth to positively influence their lives through the game of golf. Part of what they do is help talented high school players who might lack the resources to take their games (and subsequently their lives) to the college level and help them do exactly that. It's basically a charitable playground. Kinda wild.  Some more info on that within this video.

The course has got tons of natural sand around. That much you can tell from the photos above. Last year when the one-off PGA Tour event was played here, there were no "bunkers" on the course - just sandy areas. Same goes for the PGA Championship last year at Kiawah. So no need to pick up the phone and call in any penalties for guys grounding their clubs. Similar again to Kiawah, this course will play much like a links-style track. It is also expected to be firm and fast. Reports are the greens typically roll at a 12 on the Stimp. There will be a lot of different styles of play that can get it done and there won't be much rough to speak of. You're gonna see some Texas wedges out there. It's definitely one of the more unique courses we see all year which is always fun.

Best Hole - 8th Hole, Par 4 540 yards

The 8th hole is universally accepted as the signature hole at Congaree. It's typically a par 5 that will be set up as a long par 4 this week. Course diagrams suggest this path for the hole as a Par 5…

But these pros will most assuredly be taking a more aggressive line across more water and getting home in two. The clear picture at the top of this section demonstrates how gorgeous this hole is, as well as how treacherous the sand along the water is. Fairway also looks pretty narrow there, so it should serve to be a great test this week.

The Weather

You know it's fall golf szn when the frost delays start coming into play. Gonna be reaallll chilly out there for morning rounds, which you wouldn't expect for South Carolina in October.

The Coverage

Lot to love about these groups.

The Trophy

Not 100% sure they're rolling with this one this week, but research confirms they've simply tweaked the wording on it the past few years to reflect the course. It's pretty bland, not too different from a plaque. Little shimmer. No shine. Maybe looks good on a mantle but not much else. Looks like a mix between a playstation and the generic NCAA National Championship trophy. 3/10.

The Board

This is an elite field. This is also, like the Zozo last week, a limited field event with 78 players and no cut. 15 of the world's top 20 are teeing it up and 21 of the top 30. Pretty sweet for an October PGA Tour event.

Defending champ Rory McIlroy is making his 2022-23 PGA Tour debut and is the narrow favorite at the Barstool Sportsbook at +700. Rory actually has a chance to reach #1 in the world. From Twitter OWGR guru @VC606, there are two scenarios that would accomplish this:

The first is McIlroy winning and current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finishing worse than a two-way tie for second place. The second is McIlroy finishing solo second and Scheffler finishing worse than solo 34th.

Jon Rahm is right on his tail at +750 after winning the Spanish Open last week for the 3rd time in his young career. Rahm certainly looks like a guy who is finding his old form after that win and a T-2 at the BMW PGA at the start before that.

However, I'm going to roll with Matt Fitzpatrick at +2000. He's one of a small handful of players who was actually in the otherwise weak field at Congaree last year, and that was before he saw massive increases in distance off the tee. That serves to be a major weapon at this massive track, and the shaved links-style element to this course should serve the Englishman well. Especially given that he knows his way around the track more than others. Like most of my picks take him Top 10 (+200) too.

Other Plays

Tyrell Hatton To Win +3300/Top 10 +275 - Finished T-2 at Congaree last year. Hasn't earned a Top 5 since the Arnold Palmer last year, but he also hasn't missed a cut (9 straight cuts made worldwide) since the Irish Open early in the summer. Here's hoping he breaks through.

Collin Morikawa To Win +3000/Top 10 +250 - Simply a name brand pick. Too talented to pass up at this price.

Sahith Theegala Top 10 +400 - Followed up his great rookie season with T6-MC-T5 in 3 starts this season. I'm sure he'll win this in a week where I simply pick him to Top 10 and not outright win.

Sahith Theegala To Win +5500 - Fine, I'll take it. I know I just mushed the Top 10 ticket too, but fuck it. FOMO too real.

Kevin Kisner Top 20 +350 - Receiving a lot of disrespect (he's 150/1 to win) in his home state, but the length of this course has a lot to do with that. I think he can plod and putt his way around this track to beat 75% of this field though.

Tom Kim Top Korean +275 - You didn't think I was getting out of here without a TK pick were ya? He's got to beat Sungjae (+175), Si Woo (+500), and 3 other less formidable Koreans for this one. Take Tom, we love Tom.

Jon Rahm (+105) over Rory McIlroy Tournament H2H (tie no bet) - The calculus on this one feels a bit off. Their odds to win outright are so tight, but Rory is a -137 favorite to win this matchup? I'll take Rahm's momentum and the value.

3 man playoff +2000 - The stack at T-2 for the Palmetto has me dreaming of a deep playoff. Yes please.

4+ man playoff +5000 - Why stop at 3?

That's what I got. Should be an awesome week. 

Enjoy the CJ Cup in South Carolina.