FanDuel Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions – The CJ Cup

The CJ Cup FanDuel Fantasy Preview

The PGA TOUR will stay in Asia for the inaugural playing of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges. The event will be played at Nine Bridges Golf Club in Jeju Island, South Korea and will be very similar in setup to last week’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia.

Once again, there will be a limited field of just 78 players who are making the trip, 60 of which will be from the 2016-17 FedExCup standings while the other 18 are filled out by players from the different Asian tours.

The par-72, 7,196-yard course is one of, if not the most, heralded course in South Korea after supporting an LPGA TOUR event for four years and hosting a slew of other outings with some of the best players from around the world.

With the field being so limited, it is a surprise to see a plethora of top-end talent making their way to South Korea for this tournament. Leading the pack for the second consecutive week will be the defending FedExCup Champion and OWGR No. 4 golfer Justin Thomas. He struggled early on in his debut this season, shooting a 70 and 71 to open up in Malaysia, but turned it around to finish at 11-under in a tie for 17^th.

Justin Thomas of the US play a shot on the 18th fairway during the…

Justin Thomas of the US play a shot on the 18th fairway during the first round of the 2017 CIMB Classic golf tournament in Kuala Lumpur on October 12, 2017. / Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Joining the 24-year-old at the top of the favorites include the likes of No. 9 Jason Day, No. 14 Paul Casey, No, 16 Marc Leishman, No. 20 Pat Perez, No. 21 Rafael Cabrera-Bello, No. 23 Patrick Reed, No. 25 Adam Scott, and another nine players from the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Xander Schauffele will once again be among the entrants this week as he continues to build on a tremendous resume after winning the TOUR Championship in his rookie season and opening 2017-18 with a tie for third at last week’s outing.

Each of the players who placed in the top-three in Kuala Lumpur, winner Pat Perez, Keegan Bradley, Sung Kang, and Schauffele will be also staying in Asia for his tournament.

With this being the first PGA TOUR event at this course, there is no course history to go off of and we will need to look at other factors in its place. With it being a relatively short par-72 course, there may be an opening for the longer hitters to take advantage of the par-fives and really post some nice scores.

With that said, below are a list of players at different FanDuel price ranges who we believe could win you some cash this weekend.

The CJ Cup FanDuel Fantasy Picks

Justin Thomas – $10,300 – Although there is plenty of top talent hitting the links this week, we feel there is enough value out there with the limited field to pay up for Thomas. He played much better over the weekend in the CIMB Classic, going eight shots better than par in the two days while pounding 73.61% of greens in regulation.

The eventual tie for 17^th was a common site as the youngster earned himself a total of 14 top-25s over the course of last season while netting five victories, leading the FedExCup standings, assisting the United States in a President’s Cup victory, and being named Player of the Year.

His total strokes gained (1.618) had him ranked fifth overall as he averaged a ridiculous score of 69.359 (3^rd on TOUR). Thomas’ 309.7 yard average drive (8^th on TOUR) should pick this course apart and put him in line for a huge comeback week.

Paul Casey – $9,700 – Casey is a name we just can’t get away from. He seems to put up great performances each and every week that he is in the field, but just needs that little extra Sunday push to get him some wins.

The 40-year-old came out hot to start his new campaign at Kuala Lumpur, earning himself a tie for seventh in the CIMB Classic while showing up to the tune of a seven-under 65 on the final day. Last year, Casey ranked in the top-25 of scoring average during each of the first three rounds, but collapsed to a tie for 80^th (70.45) when it mattered most on Sunday.

If this trend can turn around, he will use his elite ability to get on greens quickly (70.06%, 3^rd on TOUR) and build on his ten top-10 finishes since the start of last season.

Paul Casey of England plays a shot from a bunker on the eighth hole…

Paul Casey of England plays a shot from a bunker on the eighth hole during the final round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on September 24, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Xander Schauffele – $8,900 – Schauffele seems like the real deal after taking the PGA TOUR by storm in his rookie season, earning top rookie honors after claiming the trophy in the TOUR Championship. Although that final event of the year made Schauffele a household name, he was strong all season long, grabbing his first career win at the Greenbrier Classic and finishing in the top-25 a total of 11 times over 28 starts.

On top of the TOUR Championship victory, he also earned high praise with strong performances at the U.S. Open (5^th) and Open Championship (20^th) against the best players in the world. The impressive play has not stopped with the turn of the calendar as Schauffele took his momentum into last week’s event and posted a third-place, 17-under showing despite carding an even par 72 on Sunday.

The 23-year-old is yet another long hitter (306.8 yards per drive, 16^th on TOUR) and will likely destroy this course thanks to his birdie or better average of 19.65% on par fours (6^th on TOUR) and par fives (46.59%, 29^th on TOUR) from last year.

Keegan Bradley – $7,400 – Bradley may be a little less of a sure thing than many of the others who are more pricey this week, but with his consistent play in 2016-17, we think that this pricing is too low. He made 23-of-29 cuts (79%) last year and was able to get back into the top-50 of the FedExCup standings for the first time since 2014.

Bradley was once among the elite in the game, finishing in the top-10 of the standings from 2011-2013 and came in 23^rd in 2014, but shortcomings with his flat iron have forced him to change his game and he is once again looking to be a force. In his first two starts this season, Bradley has been on the green in regulation 79.63% of the time and has a birdie or better on 28.70% of his holes played despite losing 2.488 strokes on the field with his putter.

We like to plug Bradley in because of the ceiling he has if he finds his stroke with the flat iron and We believe that this a great position for him given the field size.

Anirban Lahiri – $6,500 – Lahiri certainly has plenty of experience at the top of a leaderboard despite failing to earn a PGA TOUR victory to this point as he has was victorious in 18 professional events, including two on the European Tour, has been a member of two President’s Cup teams, and made an appearance in the 2016 Summer Olympics. With all of the experience in his back pocket, Lahiri was able to improve on his first full season on the PGA TOUR with a runner-up and third place to go along with 14 made cuts (64%) in 2016-17.

He finished 51^st in the FedExCup standings thanks to 22.61% of his holes ending in a birdie or better (14^th on TOUR); doing so most frequently on the longer holes (48.60% on par fives, 18^th on TOUR). Lahiri opened his year up with a tie for 10^th at the CIMB Classic after posting a Saturday 64, and another top-10 should not be out of the question in South Korea.

Anirban Lahiri of India in action during round one of the 2017 CIMB…

Anirban Lahiri of India in action during round one of the 2017 CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur on October 12, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Cameron Smith – $6,200 – Smith looks to steadily be improving after his first two years on the PGA TOUR and followed his 13-of-24 cuts made (54%) with no top-10s two years ago with four top-10s in 26 starts while making it to the weekend 16 times (62%) last season. He continued that strong play at the CIMB Classic, going 16-under-par and finishing in a tie for fifth-place after a pair of 64s on Thursday and Sunday.

The 24-year-old gained 0.399 strokes around the green last year (8^th on TOUR) and used an all-around game to finish with a birdie or better on 22.02% of his holes played (23^rd on TOUR).

Smith may never be mentioned in the same breath as some of the superstar players around his age right now, but we see him getting better each year and coming away with a ton of top-25s this year.

Sung Kang – $6,100 – Kang should feel right at home here in Jeju Island which sits just a few miles away from where he was born. The 30-year-old started off his career on the Asian Tour, but made his way to America and the PGA for the first time in 2011. Things didn’t go well with a meager 18 cuts made in 51 starts (35%) between 2011-2012, but he made a comeback in 2016 and had a breakout season last year, going 20-for-32 in cuts made (63%) while coming in as the runner-up in the Shell Houston Open.

We think scoring on par fives will be important here and Kang was one of the best last year with a birdie or better 49.03% of the time (15^th on TOUR). Kang started out the season right with tie for third last week and now he will look to heat up close to home.

K.J. Choi – $4,900 – Kang is not the only South Korean in the field that we’ll be keeping my eye on as the most successful Asian-born golfer, K.J. Choi, sets to tee it up on the PGA TOUR for the 443^rd time. Over that stretch, the 47-year-old managed eight victories, seven runner-ups, and a total of 66 top-10 finishes.

Age has caught up to him, though, as he failed to make the cut more than he missed for the first time in his career and managed just three top-25s over 25 starts. That being said, if there was a spot for him to make one final run at a victory, it is this week against a smaller field in his home country. This may be more of a feeling, but we see a big week for the veteran.

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