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CJ Cup at Shadow Creek fantasy golf power rankings

esten mclaren, sportsbookwire
·8 min read

The CJ Cup will be played at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the first time this week.

It’s the first event of the PGA Tour’s relocated and abbreviated Asia swing and will be followed by the Zozo Championship next week. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings for the top 30 golfers for the 2020 CJ Cup at Shadow Creek.

This week’s event includes an exceptionally strong 78-man field featuring seven of the top 10 golfers in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. Brooks Koepka (No. 69) makes his return to tournament play for the first time since the Wyndham Championship.

Fantasy Golf Top 30

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

30. Brendon Todd (+8000)

Todd’s coming off a rare multi-week break following a T-23 finish at the U.S. Open. He showed well at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with a T-15 and a T-8 at the BMW Championship. Both were no-cut events.

29. Bubba Watson (+7000)

Has never competed in the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in South Korea but will tee it up in Las Vegas. At 7,527 yards and with wide fairways, Shadow Creek seems a natural fit for Watson.

28. Matthew Fitzpatrick (+4500)

A regular contender on the European Tour, Fitzpatrick’s coming off a T-7 at last week’s BMW PGA Championship. He tied for sixth at the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs against similar competition and without a cut.

27. Justin Rose (+6600)

Five missed cuts in his last eight events but with a ninth-place finish at the PGA Championship mixed in. His iron play is well suited for the rolling elevation of Shadow Creek.

26. Scottie Scheffler (+4000)

Missed the cut last week in a moderate field at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and is still looking for his form of the PGA Championship and FedEx Cup Playoffs after having to withdraw from the U.S. Open due to a positive COVID-19 test.

25. Ian Poulter (+9000)

Coming off back-to-back top-6 finishes on the European Tour. He tied for 16th at last year’s CJ Cup in South Korea and typically plays his best in these stronger fields.

24. Alex Noren (+9000)

Tied for 18th at the 2018 CJ Cup at Nine Bridges. Finished T-22 and T-17 at the PGA Championship and US Open, respectively, and will be competing against most of the same top names from each of those three events once again.

23. Si Woo Kim (+9000)

Finished T-8 at last week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. He was the fourth among those in last week’s field making the short trip over to Shadow Creek this week.

22. Sergio Garcia (+5500)

The winner of the Sanderson Farms Championship, Garcia followed it up with a T-43 last week against tougher competition. His putter and short game abandoned him last week, as he lost 0.51 strokes per round putting, according to Data Golf.

21. Jason Day (+6000)

Lost 1.58 strokes per round around the green last week en route to a missed cut. He ranked first on the PGA Tour in SG: Around-the-Green last season and will need to recapture that form with Shadow Creek’s troublesome run-off areas.

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20. Abraham Ancer (+5000)

Coming off a fourth-place finish last week in which he ranked second in the field with 2.08 Strokes Gained: Putting per round. He’ll need to lean more heavily on an approach game that struggled last week.

19. Sungjae Im (+3300)

Averaged 0.63 SG: Tee-to-Green in the 2019-20 season. Ranked third in the field in that metric last week and led the field with 1.63 SG: Off-the-Tee per round while finishing T-13.

18. Paul Casey (+6000)

Was playing very well from a T-2 finish at the PGA Championship through the FedEx Cup Playoffs and a T-17 finish at the U.S. Open before a missed cut last week. He tied for 18th in this event last year in South Korea.

17. Viktor Hovland (+3300)

Hasn’t played competitively since a T-13 finish at the US Open. Was one of the best in the world in SG: Approach and SG: Off-the-Tee on the 2019-20 season but will need to be better than usual around the greens at Shadow Creek.

16. Harris English (+4000)

His missed cut last week was his first since the Charles Schwab Challenge in mid-June. Hasn’t played in a no-cut WGC event since 2016 and has never played the CJ Cup in South Korea.

15. Daniel Berger (+3500)

Tied for 17th at the Zozo Championship but didn’t compete in the CJ Cup last year. His win at the Charles Schwab Challenge, T-2 result at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and third-place finish at The Northern Trust all came against this week’s top competition.

14. Tony Finau (+3000)

Expected to make his return this week after withdrawing from the Shriners due to a positive COVID test. He was T-8 at the U.S. Open and T-4 at the PGA Championship and should once again finish near the top of a stacked leaderboard.

13. Brooks Koepka (+3000)

Teeing it up for the first time since a missed cut at the Wyndham Championship after an extended break to recover from knee and hip injuries. Looking to reprove himself as one of the world’s best golfers late in a 2020 season that has seen him record just two top-10 results through 13 events.

12. Louis Oosthuizen (+4500)

Tied for 29th at the 2018 CJ Cup but didn’t play last year. His play around the greens left plenty to be desired last season but his putter can cover up a lot of his mistakes when in top form.

11. Tommy Fleetwood (+4000)

Tied for third at the European Tour’s Portugal Masters and was the runner-up at the Scottish Open on either side of a missed cut at the U.S. Open. He tied for 13th last week in the BMW PGA Championship and will hope his elite form on the Euro circuit can follow him back to the USA this time.

10. Collin Morikawa (+2500)

The 2020 PGA Championship winner has struggled ever since his victory at TPC Harding Park. He missed the cut at both the U.S. Open and the Shriners but his iron play and approach game are well-suited to a Shadow Creek course where ball positioning is key.

9. Hideki Matsuyama (+2500)

Matsuyama is a staple contender at no-cut events such as WGCs, and he finished third at last year’s CJ Cup. He was third at the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs with this week’s format and strength of fielding nearly mirroring that event.

8. Xander Schauffele (+1400)

Followed up a co-runner-up finish at the Tour Championship with a fifth-place result at the U.S. Open and enters off a lengthy break. His play from tee to green will help him succeed on the rolling fairways.

7. Rory McIlroy (+1200)

Enters the week third in the Golfweek rankings but hasn’t won an event in 14 tries this calendar year. He has six top 10s, including a T-8 at the U.S. Open, but he was just T-47 at the last WGC event.

6. Patrick Cantlay (+2500)

The native of Long Beach, California, typically plays well on the West Coast, and especially in Las Vegas. He finished T-8 last week with a disappointing fourth-round performance but gained 0.78 strokes per round around the green.

5. Tyrrell Hatton (+2800)

Won last week’s BMW PGA Championship in a stacked European Tour field. He’s 10th by the betting odds to win this week back in North America.

4. Matthew Wolff (+2200)

Wolff is sixth by the betting odds to win off of a T-2 finish at the Shriners where he ranked fifth in the field with 2.24 SG: Tee-to-Green per round. He ranks second on Tour with 2.65 strokes gained per round on the average Tour pro over his last 20 rounds.

3. Dustin Johnson (+900)

Leads the PGA Tour with 3.90 strokes gained per round on the average pro across his last 20 rounds. Tied for second at the PGA Championship and for sixth at the U.S. Open, with a win at The Northern Trust and a runner-up finish at the BMW Championship.

2. Jon Rahm (+1000)

The top-ranked player in the Golfweek rankings finished just T-23 at the US Open but will benefit from the considerably wider fairways. Averaged 1.57 SG: Tee-to-Green per round last season.

1. Justin Thomas (+1100)

A two-time winner of this event when played in South Korea. His last victory was at the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational where he went 66-70-66-65 to finish at minus-13. He also fired three rounds of 66 en route to a co-runner-up finish at the Tour Championship.

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