No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 3 Rory McIlroy headline loaded field for CJ Cup in SC

The tee sheet for next week’s CJ Cup in South Carolina glitters with 15 players ranked in the world’s top 20 entered for the PGA Tour’s tournament at Congaree Golf Club in rural Jasper County.

No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Rory McIlroy, whose commitments had been announced previously, headline the field that became official Friday afternoon.

“The strength is not just in the top 10,” said Bruce Davidson, director of golf at Congaree. “Just look at the quality depth. The field has the look of a major championship.”

The only top-10 players missing are No. 2 Cam Smith, who left the PGA Tour to compete on the LIV tour; No. 4 Patrick Cantlay; No. 6 Xander Schauffele; and No. 7 Will Zalatoris, who is sidelined with a back injury.

Highly ranked players joining Schefffler and McIlroy will be No. 5 Jon Rahm, No. 8 Justin Thomas, No. 9 Collin Morikawa and No. 10 Matt Fitzpatrick. Familiar names ranked 11-20 who will compete include Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, Hidecki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im.

“You don’t see that kind of quality every week,” Davidson said.

Qualifications for the field limited to 78 include finishing in the top 60 in the 2021-22 FedEx Cup standings. In addition to sponsors’ exemptions, five players designed by the Korea PGA will compete.

The CJ Cup in South Carolina is the second PGA Tour event to move to the Palmetto State at the last minute due to challenges aerated by the coronavirus outbreak. Played in Korea in its first three years (2017-19), the tournament moved to Las Vegas for 2020 and ’21.

Officials hoped to return to Korea this fall, but lingering COVID concerns forced a change, finalizing a move to Congaree in June.

After the pandemic forced cancellation of the 2021 RBC Canadian Open, the Tour created the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June.

The June tournament came a week before the U.S. Open and only a few top players — currently LIV competitors Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka among them — competed. Garrick Higgo, a native of South Africa playing in his second PGA Tour, won with a score of 11-under-par 273.

The Tom Fazio-designed layout, which can be stretched to 7,800 yards, will play differently in cooler weather. Plus, early week rains softened the course for the Palmetto Championship.

“If nothing changes, the course will be like we want it — firm and fast,” Davidson said. “Congaree will be a challenge.”

McIlroy is defending champion. He edged Morikawa by one stroke for the title a year ago.

The field

+ Sponsor Exemption; * KPGA

Byeong Hun An; Yongjun Bae *; Christiaan Bezuidenhout; Keegan Bradley; Sam Burns; Wyndham Clark; Corey Conners; Cam Davis; Jason Day +; Harris English +; Matt Fitzpatrick; Tommy Fleetwood; Rickie Fowler +; Lucas Glover; Emiliano Grillo;

Adam Hadwin; Brian Harman; Tyrrell Hatton; Russell Henley; Lee Hodges; Tom Hoge; Max Homa; Billy Horschel; Viktor Hovland; John Huh; Sungjae Im; Chanmin Jung +; Bio Kim *; S.H. Kim; Si Woo Kim; Tom Kim; Yeongsu Kim *; Chris Kirk; Kevin Kisner; Kurt Kitayama; Matt Kuchar

K.H. Lee; Luke List; Shane Lowry; Hideki Matsuyama; Denny McCarthy; Rory McIlroy; Maverick McNealy; Troy Merritt; Keith Mitchell; Taylor Montgomery +; Taylor Moore; Collin Morikawa; Trey Mullinax; Sebastián Muñoz; Alex Noren; Ryan Palmer +; Sanghyun Park; Mito Pereira; J.T. Poston; Seamus Power; Andrew Putnam;

Jon Rahm; Chez Reavie; Davis Riley; Scottie Scheffler; Yoseop Seo *; Sanghun Shin *; Webb Simpson +; Alex Smalley; J.J. Spaun; Jordan Spieth; Scott Stallings; Brendan Steele; Sepp Straka; Justin Suh +; Sahith Theegala; Justin Thomas; Brendon Todd +; Danny Willett +; Aaron Wise; Gary Woodland +; Cameron Young

CJ Cup dates

Thursday to Sunday, Oct 20-23

Where is Congaree National Golf Club?

The Congaree course is located off of Interstate 95 in rural Jasper County in Ridgeland, South Carolina. It’s more than 90 minutes west of Charleston and about an hour north of Savannah, Georgia, and about two hours from Columbia.

CJ Cup tickets

Daily grounds tickets are available online at www.CJCUPSouthCarolina.com. A maximum of two children ages 15 and under will be admitted free per each adult ticket.