Paulie’s Picks: 2018 CJ Cup

The PGA Tour now heads to Jeju Island in South Korea for the CJ Cup. This is the second year of the event, and it’s hosted at the Club at Nine Bridges. Basically the Augusta National of Korea, the course has been consistently rated as the best course in the country and is one of the best-conditioned golf courses in all of Asia. The course features wide fairways with large greens that have extreme undulations and some difficult green surrounds. You can also expect weather to be a factor this week as we typically see some strong winds on Jeju Island. Players who have an elite short game will have the best chance to succeed this week with the course straightforward off the tee and on approach but difficult around the greens. The CJ Cup is yet another 78-player limited field event with no cut. This makes it very difficult once again for DraftKings and One-and-Done selections.

DraftKings:

Sung Jae Im $8,000

Im, who grew up on Jeju Island playing this course, may have the most course knowledge of anyone in the field. The best part of the 2018 Web.com Tour earnings leader’s game is his short game, which should pay dividends this week. He also finished 4th in his last start at the Safeway. He will be a popular play, but he is well worth the $8,000 price tag this week.

Brandt Snedeker $8,500

Snedeker will go under the radar this week and may be a bit under-owned. He struggled mightily last week at the CIMB, which was not a surprising result after traveling across the world after his playoff loss at the Safeway. Snedeker has an elite short game ranking in the top 7 in both strokes gained putting and strokes gained around the green in his last 50 rounds. Snedeker knows how to grind out rounds in windy conditions. He won at Torrey Pines a few years back in 30+ mph wind gusts.

One-and-Done

With a weak field, I suggest taking a stud this week since this is one of the richest per player purses of the year. There is one clear option this week:

Justin Thomas

Thomas, the 6-1 favorite, checks all of the boxes this week. He won here last year and comes into this event in good form after finishing 5th at the CIMB. Over his last 50 rounds, he is third in the field in strokes gained around the green. A win here would provide a larger paycheck than the one he earned at the WGC Bridgestone earlier this year.