PREVIEW: 2022 PGA Tour – CJ Cup

2022 US PGA Tour
CJ Cup
Congaree Golf Club, Gillsonville, South Carolina
20th-23rd October

Keegan Bradley came through for me in style last week, breaking a four-year title drought with victory at the Zozo Championship. This week’s event was originally envisaged as the second leg of the US PGA Tour’s tour of Asia (following last week’s Zozo Championship).

The first three editions were held at the beautiful Nine Bridges Golf Club on Jeju Island. But the pandemic completely changed the entire complexion of this event. It has now become a nomadic event on the US PGA Tour.

A limited-field event; there are only 78 entrants and no halfway cut. It has attracted a stellar field, with six of the top ten players in the world in action. The first two editions were held at different courses in Vegas (Shadow Creek and the Summit Club).

This year’s event will venture away from Sin City and shall be staged at Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina.

Congaree Golf Club

Congaree is a Tom Fazio design that only opened as recently as 2017. This course actually hosted its maiden US PGA Tour event at last year’s Palmetto Championship (won by big-hitting South African Garrick Higgo).

It is situated just north of Harbour Town (the host of the RBC Heritage). But the challenge here couldn’t be different than the claustrophobic contours of Harbour Town.

This is a massive, rolling layout that measures over 7,600 yards. So, I would certainly favour distance over accuracy this week. Higgo is a big hitter, and he triumphed in his maiden US PGA Tour start at Congaree.

The sand-capped fairways promote firm playing conditions akin to links. There are also large waste areas scattered around the course. The huge green complexes require accurate approach play as large runoff areas will gobble up anything slightly off line.

The Contenders

The ever-consistent Rory McIlroy will be defending the title he won last year at the Summit Club. His combination of length and accuracy should put him in prime position to contend this week.

Jon Rahm will return to action after romping home to victory at the Open de Espana. After such a commanding showing on the comparatively weaker DP World Tour, he will be desperate to prove that he can still contend with the big boys Stateside.

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler hasn’t competed since his painful loss at East Lake and it will be interesting to see how sharp he will be this week.

Justin Thomas is a two-time champion in this event and has proven himself to be a master of these limited-field, quality events. Elsewhere, the likes of Shane Lowry and Sungjae Im arrive in splendid form.

Keegan Bradley will also be looking to build on his brilliant outing last week. All in all, this could be an excellent barometer of what to expect when next year’s massive tournaments roll into town.

Past Winners

2021: Rory McIlroy (-25)
2020: Jason Kokrak (-20)
2019: Justin Thomas (-20)
2018: Brooks Koepka (-21)
2017: Justin Thomas (-9)

To Win Outright:

Rory McIlroy 13/2 | Jon Rahm 8/1 | Scottie Scheffler 12/1 | Justin Thomas 13/1 | Sungjae Im 22/1

Value Bets

Tom Kim- To Win 28/1

Tom Kim suddenly emerged on people’s radars after a strong showing at the President’s Cup. He followed up that promising display with an exceptional performance at the Shriners Children’s Open. Victory in Vegas ensured that he became the first player since Tiger Woods to earn two PGA Tour victories before turning 21 years of age. That’s not the worst company to keep. The 20-year-old currently ranks first in Total Putting, thirrd in Scoring Average and ninth in GIR.

Tyrell Hatton- To Win 33/1

Tyrell Hatton could benefit from his experience in last year’s Palmetto Championship. The temperamental Englishman was part of a quartet of players who led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green last year. He ultimately finished a shot back of Higgo but he at least has some experience with this relatively tough layout. Granted, the Palmetto Championship was a much weaker field than this year’s esteemed CJ Cup line-up. He finished in a disappointing 45th at last week’s Zozo Championship. But he has recent top 10’s at the Italian Open and Alfred Dunhill Links. I think he could surprise people this week.

The Man to Beat- Rory McIlroy- To Win 13/2

This is just a course that should suit McIlroy down to the bone. He hits the ball a mile and is generally very consistent with his mid to long irons. And he loves putting on Bermuda greens. He has nine top-five finishes in his last 14 worldwide starts (including two wins). He has also already defended a title this year hosted at a different golf course to last year (the Canadian Open). He hasn’t played on the US PGA Tour since clinching his third FedEx Cup title. But he has form figures of T2-4-T4 in three DP World Tour starts. And he also stands an outside chance of displacing Scottie Scheffler atop the Official World Golf Rankings.