Another week down in the PGA Tour and we return stateside this week as the CJ Cup headlines the action from Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina. As always, check out our preview and betting tips for the event below.
CJ Cup Betting Tips
Congaree Golf Club, Ridgeland, South Carolina
Thursday 20th - Sunday 23rd October
The Field
After a bit of a down period which included some fields lacking star power, the best of the best in the PGA Tour return with a bang this week. The field is headlined by what could be considered the ‘Big 4’ golfers remaining on tour in Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas.
The talent doesn’t stop there though, also teeing it up this week will be highly ranked players in Sungjae Im, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Colin Morikawa and Cameron Young.
Rory McIlroy will be the defending champion after winning the CJ Cup in Las Vegas last season by 1 stroke over Morikawa.
The Course
Normally hosted in China during the Asian swing of the PGA Tour, the event has been on United States soil for the last two years due to COVID concerns and will remain stateside this week as the Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina gets the honours of hosting.
The course is fairly lengthy at just over 7,650 yards as a Par 71, and this week will mark just the 2nd time it has hosted a PGA Tour event, the first being the Palmetto Championship last season. Ball striking from tee to green is crucial at Congaree Golf Club given it’s length is the main defence. We’ll be targeting strong players in this category and also players who had success in the Palmetto last season.
Betting Tips
As always, we will be highlighted 2 of the top contenders who we like this week as well as two darkhorses who will provide a bit more value.
Rory McIlroy ($7.50 at Ladbrokes)
Hard not to have Rory in the conversation whenever he tees it up at the moment. He hasn’t lifted a a lot of trophies over the past few years, but he’s nearly always been in the mix come Sunday afternoon. In his last five tournaments he has finished 8th, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 4th. We won big on him with a 5 unit place play in his last tournament and we’ll be going with him again here.
Matt Fitzpatrick ($25 at Ladbrokes)
The other big dog who I like this weekend is Englishman Matty Fitzpatrick. The U.S. Open champ is one of the few high profile players with experience at this course coming into this week, having finished 10th at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree last season. I think that will serve him well coming into this week.
Tom Hoge ($46 at Ladbrokes)
Our first dark horse comes in the form of Tom Hoge. The American has been in really solid form to start this PGA Tour season, finishing T12, T4 and T9 in his first three events of the year. The latter two finishes have come over the last two weeks so I feel like he’s really cashing in on some solid form at the moment. Great value for a top 30 place.
Jason Day ($56 at Ladbrokes)
There’s no real rhyme or reason for liking day this week but I feel like he’s just been out of the spotlight for a little too long now. Its been over four years since his last PGA Tour victory and he showed some good glimpses at the Shriners Open a few weeks ago with a T8 after shooting 66, 71, 66 and a final round 63.
Other Tips
Rory McIlroy Top 5 ($2.70) 3 Units
Matthew Fitzpatrick Top 20 ($1.91) 5 Units
Tom Hoge Top 30 ($1.81) 3 Units
Jason Day Top Top 30 ($1.98) 2 Units
Rory McIlroy to win
$7.50 (2 Units)
