The 2018 PGA Tour season teed off its Asian swing in Malaysia last week at the CIMB Classic, and it was Pat Perez who held off the field for his third career win. This week’s event is in South Korea, the home of the CJ Cup (technically, the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges). This is the inaugural edition of this event and it is a limited-field tournament with 78 players taking part. It will be held at the Nine Bridges Golf Club on Jeju Island in South Korea.
Details
Event: CJ Cup
Category: PGA
Date: October 19th – 22nd
Location: Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, West Course, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Perez shot in the 60s in all four rounds to win the CIMB Classic by four strokes over Keegan Bradley. 2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele finished T-3 along with Sung Kang, while Cameron Smih and Hideki Matsuyama rounded out the top five, eight strokes back. Two-time defending champion for this event, Justin Thomas (who also won the FedEx Cup and is the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year) got off to a slow start here, but he shot 69 and 67 on the weekend to finish T-17.
The Field
We’ve got a very diverse field on tap for this week. Jason Day will probably be the biggest name in the mix, but he is not the favorite. That honor goes to Justin Thomas, who has been a very consistent player.
Overall, we’re going to see five players from the KPGA. Those guys are Jinho Choi, Jung-gon Hwang, Hyungjoon Lee , Junghwan Lee and Seunghyuk Kim. We’re also going to see a pair of players from the Asian Tour, who are Gavin Kyle Green and Young-han Song. Lastly, we’ll also see three players from the Official World Golf Rankings. That trio will be Byeong Hun An, Jeunhun Wang and K.T. Kim.
Given the diversity, this is going to be one of the most interesting fields of the year.
What To Know About The Course
Nine Bridges opened in 2001 and has hosted the LPGA Tour in the past. It is a par-72 course that is 7,196 yards long, and it is about 3,500 feet above level and it is located on Mt. Halla, which is also the home of a shield volcano. It is a course where birdies will be plentiful as the front nine has lots of trees, and then there is water on the back nine. The par-5 finishing hole has two fairways and an island green, but it was a rough summer in South Korea in terms of weather, so players can be very aggressive here.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Paul Casey over Justin Thomas
Thomas definitely did well to finish T-17 in Malaysia, but Casey finished T-7 and would have been right there battling for the win if not for a first-round 77. Casey has four top-five finishes in his last five starts and he had an extra week off as he didn’t play in the Presidents’ Cup; Thomas did. Thomas also had a lot of extra media attention thanks to winning the FedEx Cup, Player of the Year and all of his accolades, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take some time off soon.
Top-Five Pick: Tony Finau
Finau finished solo second to Brendan Steele at the season-opening Safeway Open and had T-7s back-to-back to finish the 2017 PGA Tour season. This feels like the year that Finau should break out and an early-season win wouldn’t hurt. He just has to avoid a slow start as many others had last week in Malaysia. Take Finau for at least a top-five this week.
Odds To Win 2018 CJ Cup
Justin Thomas +705
Paul Casey +905
Jason Day +1015
Xander Schauffele +1650
Marc Leishman +1850
Tony Finau +2050
Patrick Reed +2250
Pat Perez +2550
Adam Scott +3050
Keegan Bradley +3050
Daniel Berger +3250
Anirban Lahiri +3250
Rafa Cabrera Bello +3250
Gary Woodland +3550
Cameron Smith +3550
Russell Henley +3550
Charl Schwartzel +4050
Branden Grace +4550
Ian Poulter +4550
Kevin Na +4550
Chez Reavie +4550
Thomas Pieters +5050
Sung Kang +4550
Byeong Hun An +5500
JB Holmes +5500
Ollie Schniederjans +6550
James Hahn +6550
Luke List +6550
Bud Cauley +6550
Kyle Stanley +6550
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