Top storylines, how to watch today’s Round 1 of CJ Cup tournament in South Carolina
The gang’s all here — or at least most of them — and a smorgasbord of exciting possibilities awaits in the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup in South Carolina that begins Thursday.
Fifteen of the top 20 players in the World Golf Rankings will be in the field of 78 that competes over the acclaimed Congaree Golf Club course located in rural Jasper County.
The 72-hole challenge will be a venture into the unknown for the highest-ranked players. None of the most familiar names have played the course in tournament conditions, and finding answers quickly will be the name of the game.
Congaree “presents a lot of options,” Rory McIlroy said after his first venture around the 7,655-yard, par-71 course designed by Tom Fazio.
Let’s take a look at how to watch and some story lines that will emerge:
CAN McILROY CLIMB TO NO. 1?
McIlroy, who won the FedEx Cup to close the 2021-22 PGA Tour season, comes to Congaree ranked No. 2 in the world after moving up one spot in the standings released Monday.
He can become No. 1 this week — if the stars align.
According to those who understand the complex system, McIlroy would be on top by either winning or finishing alone in second place coupled with a poor finish by current No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
Since the FedEx Cup, McIlroy has earned points with high finishes on the DP World Tour. Scheffler will be making his first start since the FedEx Cup.
Scheffler has been No. 1 since winning the Dell Match Play in March. McIlroy has been No. 1 eight times for a total of 106 weeks in his career, but he last led the list in July 2020.
A PALMETTO STATE DOUBLE FOR SPIETH?
Jordan Spieth earned a popular victory on his last competition in the Palmetto State — the 2022 RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island — and a triumph this week would be icing on the cake for his year.
Will he?
Well, there’s a lot to like about the Congaree GC course that he saw for the first time this week.
“It’s really, really cool,” he said. “... Just the whole setting here, it reminds me of a couple of my favorite places that I’ve been and should be a nice firm test for everybody.”
WILL RICKIE FOWLER’S RESURGENCE CONTINUE?
One of the most popular players on the Tour whose achievements include finishing in the top 5 in all four major championships in 2014, Fowler had fallen on hard times in recent years.
His top-10 finishes dwindled to one in both of the past two seasons. Even after a tie for sixth in the season-opening Fortinet Championship, he stood at 160 in the world rankings.
But after missing the cut in Las Vegas, he tied for second last week in the Zozo Championship and moved to 106 in the world.
He’s playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption. He will be looking to add another strong performance to his hot start with the CJ Cup, a tournament in which he tied for third a year ago.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR TOM KIM?
Not that long ago, the questions would have been, “Who is Tom Kim?” After all, he had played mostly on the Korean Tour and ranked 149th in the world.
Then, he introduced himself to the professional golf world by winning the Wyndham Championship, the final event prior to the FedEx Cup playoffs, and followed by winning the Shriners in Las Vegas two weeks ago.
That means ...
▪ Only Kim and Tiger Woods have won two PGA Tour tournaments before the age of 21 in the past 80 years.
▪ At 20 years, 1 month and 17 days, Kim is the second-youngest player to win a PGA Tour event since World War II. (Only Jordan Spieth, in 2013 at age 19, won at a younger age during that time frame.)
▪ His victory in the Wyndham came after a quadruple bogey on his first hole. But he posted with a 27 on the front nine in the final round, one shot off the Tour record for nine holes, and his 61 is the fifth-lowest final-round score by a tournament winner in 40 years.
What’s next?
HOW WILL CONGAREE PLAY?
If conditions remain the same — that is, if rain stays away — the course will be firm and fast ... and very difficult.
Don’t be surprised if the winning score is in single digits under par. Rather, says Bruce Davidson, that might be expected.
Davidson, Congaree’s director of golf, calls the sand-based property reminiscent of Pinehurst No. 2 or Pine Valley. The firm conditions allow balls to scoot off the generous fairways into waste bunkers and bound over the greens into collection areas.
In the only other PGA Tour event at Congaree, the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June 2021, Garrick Higgo won at 11-under-par 273.
“We got eight inches of rain on Sunday and Monday before that tournament,” Davidson said. “That’s the only reason they got to 11-under par.”
THE TOURNAMENT
The CJ Cup got its start in South Korea in 2017 before moving to Las Vegas the past two years due to COVID pandemic restrictions. Pandemic-related challenges prevented the planned return to South Korea this year, and officials moved the tournament to Congaree.
SCORES, LEADERBOARD
Gates open at 7:30 a.m. Thursday-Sunday, with tee times stretching from 8 a.m. until 1:10 p.m. Follow updates here to see who’s leading. The purse is $10.5 million, with the winner earning $1.89 million and $1.134 million for second place.
TV, RADIO SCHEDULE
Television coverage will be on the Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Radio coverage will be on SiriusXM and PGATour.com from noon-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 1-6 p.m. on Saturday and noon-5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Thursday tee times for Round 1
8:15 AM Aaron Wise, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Yeongsu Kim
8:27 AM Brendan Steele, Emiliano Grillo, Sanghyun Park
8:39 AM Scott Stallings, Wyndham Clark, Yongjun Bae
8:51 AM Corey Conners, Danny Willett, Denny McCarthy
9:03 AM Andrew Putnam, Troy Merritt, Adam Hadwin
9:15 AM Trey Mullinax, Tom Hoge, Lucas Glover
9:27 AM Chez Reavie, Brendon Todd, Gary Woodland
9:39 AM Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Jason Day
9:51 AM Sam Burns, Viktor Hovland, Si Woo Kim
10:08 AM Keegan Bradley, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm
10:20 AM Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler
10:32 AM Tommy Fleetwood, Byeong Hun An, Maverick McNealy
10:44 AM Mito Pereira, Taylor Moore, Justin Suh
10:56 AM John Huh, Lee Hodges, Chanmin Jung
11:08 AM Chris Kirk, Sahith Theegala, Sanghun Shin
11:20 AM Russell Henley, Alex Noren, Davis Riley
11:32 AM Ryan Palmer, Keith Mitchell, Brian Harman
11:44 AM J.J. Spaun, Harris English, Matt Kuchar
12:01 PM J.T. Poston, Luke List, Tyrrell Hatton
12:13 PM K.H. Lee, Seamus Power, Sebastián Muñoz
12:25 PM Sepp Straka, Cam Davis, Webb Simpson
12:37 PM Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Collin Morikawa
12:49 PM Scottie Scheffler, Sungjae Im, Cameron Young
1:01 PM Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama
1:13 PM Alex Smalley, S.H. Kim, Yoseop Seo
1:25 PM Kurt Kitayama, Taylor Montgomery, Bio Kim
TICKETS
Daily grounds tickets are $55 plus taxes and fees on Thursday and Friday, and $60 plus taxes and fees Saturday and Sunday. Up to two children ages 15 and under are admitted free of charge with every one adult ticket.
Active-duty military, retirees, veterans and National Guard members can receive up to four complimentary tickets each day. Military members need an active GovX account to verify status. An account can be created at GovX.com.
WHERE IS CONGAREE? DIRECTIONS, PARKING
Congaree Golf Club is located on U.S. Highway 278 about 30 miles north of Savannah and five miles off Interstate 95 in Jasper County.
From Hilton Head and Savannah, take I-95 North to exit 1 8. Follow state road 27-13 to U.S. 17. Turn left onto U.S. 278 and follow about 9 miles to the parking area.
From Columbia, follow I-26 East to I-95 South. Take I-95 to exit 28 and merge onto SC 462 toward Coosawhatchie. Stay on 462 — there’s a right turn and then a left — to U.S. 278 and the parking area.
The general parking area is across U.S. 278 from the spectators’ entrance.
