The CJ Cup
DFS PGA Tour Golf Picks
Make the most of the data, predictions, and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for the CJ Cup. Check out our PGA Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS DraftKings lineups. Best of luck this week!
The CJ Cup
Preview for the CJ Cup: This tournament has been played since 2017 but this marks the first year that Congaree Golf Club will host the event. The record at this event is held by Rory McIlroy who shot a -25 last year when it was held at The Summit Club in Las Vegas. Over the last five years, winners of the CJ Cup include the aforementioned Rory McIlroy in 2021, Jason Kokrak in 2020, Justin Thomas in 2019, Brooks Koepka in 2019, and Justin Thomas in 2017.
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Tournament purse: The prize money for this week’s event is $10.5M; the winner collects $1.837M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: Congaree Golf Club in Gillisonville, South Carolina, is 7,655 yards in length, is a par 71, and the sizeable greens are Bermudagrass. The winning score at this tournament over the last five years ranges from -9 to -25, but we haven’t seen it contested here on this track yet. The winning score on this track in 2021 for the Palmetto Championship was -11 by Garrick Higgo – I estimate that a high teen number will win this week given the great talent we have in the field. Some key stats to factor in this week are driving accuracy percentage, strokes gained: approach, strokes gained: putting, strokes gained: around the green, and strokes gained: tee to green.
The field: We have a small but mighty 78-player field this week, and all golfers will play all 4 rounds barring withdrawals happening. Lots of notable players are teeing it up in the 2022 edition of the CJ Cup including Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and lots of other talent to enjoy. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be an A.
Three questions that are relevant to the CJ Cup this week:
- Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total over their last 24 rounds? Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Young, Trey Mullinax, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, and Tom Kim.
- Which 10 players does my custom model like the most? Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Sungjae Im, Brian Harman, Gary Woodland, Scott Stallings, Tom Kim, Andrew Putnam, and Jon Rahm.
- Which 10 players gained the most strokes total at this course in 2021 for Palmetto Championship? Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Chez Reavie, Harris English, Seamus Power, Sungjae Im, Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Noren, Kevin Kisner, and Byeong Hun An.
DraftKings lineup construction strategy this week: With a small but talented field in action, I recommend going with a stars and scrubs mentality since there is no cut line and one of the elite players will likely win, so grab as much win equity near the top as possible. Check on projected player ownership on Wednesday, and leave at least $500 on the table if you’re in big GPPs assuming you want to win them outright.
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are (in no particular order) 15 DFS golf picks on DraftKings (DK), plus I also include player salaries for DK. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performances at the event over the last five years, and add in some tasty data.
Notable player finishes (those who are playing this week) from the 2021 Palmetto Championship: Tyrrell Hatton – T2, Matt Fitzpatrick – T10, Harris English and Chez Reavie – T14, and Seamus Power – T19.
15 Players Who Are High Value Plays This Week – Get Them Into Your DFS Lineups
Scottie Scheffler (Salary: DraftKings – $10.4K) – He’s still the top-ranked player in the world despite not having won since The Masters in April, but he has still been competitive recently despite a cold putter over his last ten starts. Once he gets his flat stick figured out he will be just fine since his ball striking is still solid and his around-the-green play is consistently on. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T38 and 2020 – T52.
Justin Thomas (Salary: DraftKings – $10.2K) – Here’s another player looking to figure out his putter and his approach play has gone south lately but I expect better from JT who’s won this event twice in its five year history. He’s making his first start of the season if you exclude the Presidents Cup, and he typically gets off to hot starts early on in campaigns. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T18, 2020 – T12, 2019 – Won, 2018 – T36, and 2017 – Won.
Rory McIlroy (Salary: DraftKings – $11.1K) – McIlroy just keeps putting together top 5 finishes with numerous ones dating back to last Spring and he has four straight between the PGA Tour and the European Tour including his Tour Championship win in late August. It’s all systems go right now for Rory, don’t be surprised if he defends his CJ Cup title this week despite playing on a different course. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – Won and 2020 – T21.
Matt Fitzpatrick (Salary: DraftKings – $9.8K) – He had a top 10 here last year on this course at the Palmetto Championship, so he’s already comfortable here unlike most of the others who are seeing it for the first time. He had a 2nd at the Italian Open three starts ago, and his complete game is a threat no matter where in the world he plays. This year’s U.S. Open winner is capable of winning on any given week now, and I expect a sound showing this week. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T12.
Sungjae Im (Salary: DraftKings – $9.6K) – Im was really rolling before last week’s T29 in Japan with three T2’s, a 7th, and a 12th in his previous five starts. It’s because his ball striking and putting are so darn good and he’s above average around the greens, as well. He should be right in the mix for a top 10 this week and he certainly has the upside to win. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T9, 2020 – T45, 2019 – T39, and 2018 – T41.
Viktor Hovland (Salary: DraftKings – $9.2K) – Great showing last week in Japan for Hovland as he had a T5, has two top 5’s in his last three starts, and five top 20’s in his last six starts. He has been gaining strokes pretty much across the board over his last six starts, and he should put on a good show this week also. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T18, 2020 – T12, and 2019 – T31.
Tom Kim (Salary: DraftKings – $8.9K) – With two wins in his last four starts the kid is for real and I’m going to keep rolling him out there until his stats start to erode. He was OK in Japan last week with a T25, but can do so much better given his outstanding game from an all-around perspective. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T49 and 2020 – T64.
Keegan Bradley (Salary: DraftKings – $8.4K) – Things were rocky with Bradley for four starts but then he had a T5 at the Sanderson Farms Championship two starts ago and followed that up with the win last week in Japan, although we don’t know how he got it done since shot tracking technology didn’t exist there. Let’s see how he responds this week, it could go either way but there’s some value on the board here given he’s the 16th most expensive player and is coming in hot. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T32, 2020 – T42, and 2017 – T42.
Taylor Montgomery (Salary: DraftKings – $8.2K) – The kid is one to watch with a constant stream of top 10’s and teen finishes since February between the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour. He seems to be reliant on his scorching putter so if that goes then his results will really slip, but until it does, giddy up cowboy! CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: None.
Emiliano Grillo (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K) – We have seen Grillo’s career completely rebound since July with two T2’s, a 4th last week, and a T5 over his last eight starts. My only worry for him this week is he tends to have a great finish followed by a bad one, but we will see if this trend continues this time. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T18, 2019 – T26, 2018 – T55, and 2017 – T40.
Tom Hoge (Salary: DraftKings – $7.7K) – Get on Hoge’s value this week since he has two T4’s, a T9, a 10th, and a T12 over his last six starts. Other than a weak around the green game, everything else is in pristine form from a stats and results standpoint – get him into some core lineups this week. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T32 and 2020 – T38.
Andrew Putnam (Salary: DraftKings – $7.4K) – Putnam’s approach, around the green, and putting stats are rather impressive since late July and it has earned him four top 12’s including his T2 last week, and two other top 30’s over his last seven starts. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2019 – T20 and 2018 – T29.
Taylor Moore (Salary: DraftKings – $7.0K) – Moore bounced back well from a missed cut at the Shriners Children’s Open to finish T12 in Japan last week, and he had two top 6’s in five starts prior to the Shriners. The talent is there, he just needs a bit more consistency to be a constant top 20 threat. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: None.
Sahith Theegala (Salary: DraftKings – $8.1K) – I like that Theegala has two top 6’s over his last three starts, and it seems like he’s going to win at some point, it’s just a matter of when. Much the same as Moore above, he just needs to find consistency but that will come with more experience and age. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: None.
S.H. Kim (Salary: DraftKings – $7.1K) – This is a bit of a wild card play, but he’s coming off a T4 at the Shriners Children’s Open, he had a T36 at the Fortinet Championship two starts ago and had a strong finish to the Korn Ferry Tour last season with a T11, a T6, and withdrawal at the final event but gained 9.87 strokes total, so it’s not like he pulled out with poor play, it was clearly injury related. He could be a diamond in the rough this week and open up possibilities to grab lots of talent high up the board. CJ Cup finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T32 and 2020 – T52.
