Fantasy Golf Predictions
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina
CJ Cup in South Carolina Fantasy Preview
Lapsed PGA TOUR fans from 2012 would have been doing a double-take when looking at the ZOZO Championship leaderboard on Sunday.
Keegan Bradley, who back in ’12 had won the WGC Bridgestone to frank his PGA Championship triumph the year previous, was dueling with Rickie Fowler, who back in the halcyon days of 2012 was a 23-year-old phenom picking up his first TOUR win at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Fowler, desperate to win given his familial ties to Japan, was the favorite heading into the final round, but the pressure of ending a long wait for a PGA TOUR title eventually caught up with him. A run of just one birdie in his opening 14 holes played ended those hopes, but it was another encouraging step for a popular player who has reinvented his game of late.
That left Bradley to battle it out with Andrew Putnam, and with the latter unable to string together a par-breaking run, it was left to Keegan – without a TOUR title in 1,498 days – to just about hold it together down the back straight, despite two bogeys, to creak home by a single stroke.
The PGA TOUR returns to American soil – Ridgeland, South Carolina to be exact – for this week’s CJ Cup.
Last Week’s Fantasy Results
Morikawa faded hard to a 45th place finish but it was nice seeing Andrew Putman finish in the T2 spot.
Unfortunately for us, we didn’t have Keegan on the roster and it was truly a Keegan-Fowler-Putman 3-man punch that would have made your roster a winner for sure.
With that behind us…we move onto next week.
CJ Cup in South Carolina Field
The CJ Cup has become the go-to event for a number of the PGA TOUR’s big guns to dust off the cobwebs having had the start of the fall season off, and that’s again the case in 2022.
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler make their bows after stellar 2021-22 seasons. The Irishman won the FedEx Cup, while Scheffler capped a fine year with a Masters win and a rise to number one in the world rankings.
Jon Rahm heads Stateside after victory in his native Spanish Open, while Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns and Billy Horschel return after their Presidents Cup heroics.
That big-hitting group is joined by a number of players that will complete the head-rush of the Nevada-Japan-South Carolina schedule – Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Si-Woo Kim and Rickie Fowler among them.
As usual, this invitational field will be somewhere between 75 and 80 players in size, with no cut made on Friday.
This Week’s Course Preview
We’ve only had one competitive look at the Congaree Club in South Carolina, and that was at the 2021 Palmetto Championship, which was won by the South African, Garrick Higgo.
The stats confirmed the eye test – this is a super-long track at 7,655 yards for its Par 71, and so players of all lengths are left with some mammoth approach shots into average-sized Bermuda greens.
Designed by Tom Fazio, the idea behind the layout was to capture the essence of the famous sandbelt courses in Australia, and it certainly lives up to the brief with its exposed, sandy profile.
There’s some fairly forgiving landing zones for tee shots, and while there is little in the way of water on the real estate, some of the bunkers are huge in size. The greens are undulating and complex, with run-offs and shelves confirming that approach play is of paramount importance this week.
That helps to explain why the winning score at the Palmetto was just -11, with only six of the eighteen holes averaging under par for the week. The three Par 5s and two 360-yard Par 4s were the easiest, while the devilish 465-yard, Par 4 thirteenth saw just 38 birdies made all week and 162 scores of bogey or worse.
The trio of holes between 12-14 could be where hopes fade and dreams die on Sunday. The twelfth played as one of the easiest holes on the course at the Palmetto, and yet 13 and 14 ranked first and second for bogeys made.
Weather Forecast for Ridgeland, SC
Most golf tournaments heat up as the week progresses, and that appears to be the case with the weather in Ridgeland.
The CJ Cup will open up in temperate 68˚F conditions, with the earlier starters facing some pretty cool temperatures indeed – as low as 50˚F, in fact.
The mercury creeps up to 78 ˚F by Sunday, and while the heat brings with it an increase in wind speeds from 4mph to 9mph, the early forecasts suggest it’s a pretty benign week in store for Ridgeland.
Last Year’s Results from the CJ Cup in South Carolina
The Shadow Creek club in Las Vegas was on hosting duty back in 2021, and it was Rory McIlroy that struck the jackpot with his then 20th PGA TOUR title.
The Irishman fired a nerveless 66 on Sunday to see off the charge of home favorite Collin Morikawa – a member at the club, he blitzed a closing 62 to pile the pressure on McIlroy.
McIlroy had compiled a 62 of his own Saturday to propel himself into contention, and it was an eagle on the 14th hole on Sunday that ultimately propelled him to glory by one-shot from Morikawa, whose tilt at the title came unstuck on the back nine.
Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the CJ Cup in South Carolina this Week
A well-trodden argument by now, it’s difficult to recommend going out all guns blazing in your staking plan for the CJ Cup. A limited field event with no cut, it’s the big bankroll whales that can play multiple lineups and really eat into your edge this week. So, it’s off single bullet hunting that we go….
- PGA $10k Albatross: What’s most pleasing about this $12 entry contest is that you’ll only be competing against 979 other teams with your single bullet. Not bad considering there’s a top prize of $1k at stake.
- PGA $10k Caddie: Your single entry in this contest could net a top prize of $1k, and at just $5 to enter that’s plenty of upside – particularly when you factor in the other consolation payouts.
This Week’s Fantasy Notes
Given that the Palmetto Championship was a low-grade event back in 2021, we don’t have a huge amount to play with in terms of insight into Congaree.
But a winning score of -11 is testament to how long Congaree plays – remember, the Palmetto was played in June, and so there would have been more ball-run in that drier, hotter month. In the cooler and less humid October, this layout could become an absolute giant.
It’s noteworthy that of the first nine players on the leaderboard at the Palmetto, six averaged more than 310 yards off the tee and two of the others were at 308 and 309 respectively, so evidently driving distance will be key this week.
The landing zones are pretty wide at Congaree, which will help the bombers, and these Bermuda greens do feature some unique undulations and contours – approaching these with as much loft as possible (again, an advantage for the longer hitters) is vital.
In terms of correlating courses, Augusta features similarly challenging green complexes – it’s also not a million miles away from Congaree, and maybe even Torrey Pines South, home of the Farmers Insurance Open, which is a long, bomb-friendly track where hitting the ball a long way is vital.
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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the CJ Cup in South Carolina
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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the CJ Cup in South Carolina
Top Tier Pick #1
Jon Rahm (Odds: 10/1, FPPG: 81.7, GPFP: 93.91 Salary: $10,900)
It’s something of a three-way dance at the top of the market this week, but Scottie Scheffler’s lack of competitive action lately – and Rory McIlroy’s inconsistent record on Bermuda greens – hands the baton to Jon Rahm.
He won the Spanish Open for a third time earlier in October, which while no great surprise is a reminder of ability to compete brilliantly when the mood takes him – as it did in Spain, where he drew level with his hero Seve Ballesteros on three home wins.
Rahm has only won once on the PGA TOUR in 2022 and that was in Mexico, so you have to go back well over a year for the last time he won American soil.
That’s an itch he will want to scratch as soon as possible, and his excellent record at Augusta and Torrey Pines suggests Rahm will take to the test at Congaree with aplomb.
Key Stats:
- SG: Off-the-Tee – 1st
- Scoring Average – 12th
- Approaches from 250-275 yards – 21st
Top Tier Pick #2
Shane Lowry (Odds: 33/1, FPPG: 72.0, GPFP: 85.01 Salary: $8,300)
We’re still getting to know Congaree as a top-tier golf course, but the early signs are that this is a second-and-third shot layout.
Most in the field will be finding the fairway off the tee, but maintaining GIR on these tricky greens is not easy – so precision irons, but reliability around the greens when missing, are both vital.
And that’s why Shane Lowry springs to mind, because the improvement in his approach play in the past 12 months has been marked – and you suspect the Irishman will never lose his class around the greens until the day he decides to hang up his clubs.
After narrowly missing out on the TOUR Championship, Lowry returned home to Europe and won the prestigious BMW PGA Championship, and so his form continues to tick over nicely.
Key Stats:
- Approaches from 225-250 yards – 3rd
- SG: Approach – 9th
- Scoring Average – 9th
Mid-Tier Pick #1
Aaron Wise (Odds: 55/1, FPPG: 70.2, GPFP: 58.29 Salary: $7,800)
Pretty long off the tee and an exceptional wood and iron hitter, Aaron Wise has the basic ingredients for success at Congaree.
The hope is that he has a good week around the greens – something of an Achilles heel that has prevented him from adding to his sole PGA TOUR title at the 2017-18 Byron Nelson. If he does, Wise’s putting stroke is reliable enough for him to reap the rewards.
The fact that he didn’t make the trip to Japan has to be considered a major plus – especially if the CJ Cup becomes a physical grind given its length, and so Wise is ticking plenty of boxes this week.
Key Stats:
- SG: Approach – 21st
- Scoring Average – 21st
- Driving Distance – 39th
Mid-Tier Pick #2
Jason Day (Odds: 70/1, FPPG: 54.3, GPFP: 60.80 Salary: $7,500)
Although such things can occasionally be a mirage where Jason Day is concerned, the former major winner returned in excellent form at the Shriners Children’s Open.
His T8 finish was recorded on the back of a superb ball-striking – this wasn’t some fortunate, make-every-putt-you-see deal, and so perhaps the signs are for a return for better things for a player who is still only 34 years old.
A successful career as a youngster and amateur in Australia should help Day to feel at home at Congaree, and lest we forget he has twice won at Torrey Pines and has three top-five finishes to his name at Augusta.
Key Stats:
- SG: Around-the-Green – 40th
- Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders – 42nd
- Approaches from 225-250 yards – 48th
Low-Tier Pick
Russell Henley (Odds: 100/1, FPPG: 70.8, GPFP: 89.94 Salary: $7,300)
Having missed the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship, Russell Henley made the smart decision to work on his game on the range rather than heading for Japan.
The hope is that something has clicked, as Henley has a clear preference for Bermuda greens – essential given that his putting has become the weakest part of his game in recent times.
But Henley’s ball-striking prowess is not in any doubt, and there were times last season when you’d have to fork out around $9,500 to draft him in your line-ups – this could prove to be a snip of a price.
Key Stats:
- SG: Approach – 2nd
- Scoring Average – 19th
- SG: Around-the-Green – 21st
Sleeper Pick for the CJ Cup in South Carolina
Kurt Kitayama (Odds: 120/1, FPPG: 55.8, GPFP: 44.66 Salary: $7,100)
We have, for the most part, tried to avoid those who are making the trip home from Japan, but having fired an impressive final round of 65 at the ZOZO, Kurt Kitayama will be flying back on a high.
Typically excellent when approaching from long distances, Kitayama also pops after playing well at Vidanta – home of the Mexico Open earlier this year. That was another long, bomb-heavy track where approaches from 225+ yards were common, and Kitayama’s T2 finish there catches the eye.
A player whose biggest ranking point earning weeks have come on exposed tracks in Scotland and Oman, Kitayama has a strong record in sandy, desert-like conditions.
Key Stats:
- Approaches from 225-250 yards – 13th
- Driving Distance – 20th
- Birdie Average – 64th
Alternative Sleeper Pick for the CJ Cup in South Carolina
Danny Willett (Odds: 250/1, FPPG: 52.7, GPFP: 58.00 Salary: $6,200)
Like with Jason Day, the question you have to ask is whether or not Danny Willett’s recent improvement is a mirage or a hint at a return to previous glories?
At $6,200 in a no cut event, we’re happy to take a chance on it being the latter for a Brit that has won at Augusta and was very close to triumphing at the Fortinet Championship last time out on American soil.
For all his travails, Willett still possesses an excellent chipping and putting game, and as a typically reliable long-range approach player, he is surely worth chancing this week.
Key Stats:
- SG: Around-the-Green – 2nd
- Approaches from 225-250 yards – 17th
- Scrambling – 67th
This Week’s Sample Fantasy Lineup
Note: Sample lineups provided as examples only. Be sure to mix-and-match players to best fit individual contests.
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Fantasy Golf Predictions Last Season (2021-2022)
Tourneys Played '21 -'22
Season Earnings YTD
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