The PGA Tour will stay in Las Vegas or a second consecutive event after Sungjae Im claimed the title at the Shriners Children’s Open last week. The CJ Cup will be held at The Summit Club in Las Vegas, with the first round of this no-cut event getting underway Thursday. Below, we look at the 2021 CJ Cup odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
The limited field at the CJ Cup is strong this year, with many of the top 50 players in the world attending the event. Dustin Johnson is the favorite, but he’ll have to contend with the likes of Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland and Louis Oosthuizen, who is fifth in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele is also in the field in Vegas, as is 2020 CJ Cup champion Jason Kokrak.
The Summit Club will host this event for the first time. It’s a par 72 course that plays at 7,431 yards, a layout designed by Tom Fazio. Thomas has won the CJ Cup two of the last three years that it was held in South Korea, but it’ll be played on American soil again this week.
2021 CJ Cup picks – Favorite
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 3:35 p.m. ET.
Viktor Hovland (+3000)
Collin Morikawa (+1500) would be a good choice, too, considering he’s a member of The Summit Club, but I like the way Hovland is playing coming into this week and he’s a good value at +3000. He’s first in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and fourth in SG: Approach early in the 2021-22 season, once again proving to be one of the best ball-strikers in the world.
He does need to improve around the greens. He began to get better in that area last season, but he’s going to hit a ton of fairways and get a lot of looks at birdies. If the putter gets hot this week, he’ll have a chance to contend on Sunday. He finished T-44 at TPC Summerlin last week and will try to build on that performance.
2021 CJ Cup picks – Contender
Marc Leishman (+5000)
No one has started as hot as Leishman this season, going T-4 at the Fortinet Championship and T-3 at the Shriners last week. He’s putting better than just about anyone, ranking second in SG: Putting through two events.
There will be birdies to be found out there this week and Leishman is plenty long enough to get some short irons in his hands where he can be aggressive in his approaches. He’s 19th in SG: Approach after two weeks. At +5000, he’s a worthwhile bet as he tries to ride this hot streak.
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2021 CJ Cup picks – Long shot
Tom Hoge (+20000)
Hoge bounced back from a missed cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship two weeks ago by finishing T-14 last week with three sub-70 rounds. He finished T-38 in his first appearance in this event last year. He’s not terribly long or accurate off the tee, but he’s gaining 1.00 strokes per round on approach to the green, which is 12th on Tour this season.
After missing a ton of cuts from April to August last season, he finished strong with a T-4 at The Northern Trust and T-49 at the BMW Championship in late August.
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Golfweek:
- Photos: Former NBA star JR Smith as a college golfer at North Carolina A&T
- How much money each PGA Tour player earned at the Shriners Children’s Open
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