PGA DFS Core Plays - DraftKings & FanDuel: THE CJ CUP
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS plays at various salary ranges for the coming week’s golf tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
THE CJ CUP
The ZOZO Championship doesn’t get a lot of attention, but I love watching golf in primetime. Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club is a great course and one that has rewarded ball striking over the years. That was certainly the case last week, as ball striking-specialist Keegan Bradley walked away with the win. While I didn’t have a great week in DFS, the outright on Bradley certainly made a difference in the overall tally for the week.
We now turn our attention to THE CJ CUP, which has been played at a number of different courses over the last five years. The event was originally supposed to be held in South Korea each year, but that changed in 2020 due to COVID. It’s been played in Las Vegas the last two years and will be played in South Carolina this year. As has always been the case with this event, there are only 78 golfers in the field and everyone is guaranteed to play four rounds (no cut).
While this is a new course for this event, it is not a new course for the PGA Tour. The Palmetto Championship was held here at Congaree Golf Club in 2021. The course is a Par 71 that measures 7,655 yards. If you are one that gets tired of the tree-lined parklands courses on tour each week, this one should be a breath of fresh air. This Tom Fazio design features almost no rough. There are wide fairways, sandy waste areas, and a lot of water hazards.
This course is similar to the ones found in the Australian Sandbelt. It will play much more like a links course and should be firm and fast. It is worth noting that the event is being held at a different time of year than the Palmetto Championship, so perhaps we shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from that event. However, it was bombs away here in 2021. The average driving distance (304 yards) was the highest of any of the 80 courses that I have in my database.
It certainly makes sense that this is a driver-heavy golf course — the fairways are nearly 50 yards wide on average, the fairways are firm, and the course is extremely long. Driving distance played a big role here in 2021 and I will be loading up on those that are long off the tee this week. The greens are elevated and not overly difficult to hit on average, but scrambling is difficult when golfers do miss the green. The greens feature bermudagrass and should measure around 11 on the stimpmeter.
In terms of difficulty, Garrick Higgo won here with a score of 11-under par. With that said, there were six golfers that finished at 10-under and there were 30 golfers that finished at 5-under or better. It was one of the weaker fields that we saw last season, so I would expect scoring to be much better given how much talent we have in the field this week. It will be interesting to see if travel plays a factor, as many of the golfers played overseas last week.
Downloadable and Customizable Model for the THE CJ CUP
Tournament Info
Field Size:
- 78 golfers
Cut Rule:
- No cut
Weather Forecasts
Key Statistics
- Strokes Gained Off the Tee
- Strokes Gained Approach
- Driving Distance
- Mid to Long Iron Play (150-225 yards)
- Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bermuda)