CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek Preview 2020

CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek Preview 2020

CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek Preview 2020

Dates: October 12-18, 2020
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada
Course: Shadow Creek (36-36—72/7,527)
Defending champion: Justin Thomas
Purse: $9,750,000/$1,755,000
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
Format: 72-hole stroke play (no cut)
Field size: 78

Things to Know

  • THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK moves to Las Vegas for one year after being staged in Jeju Island, South Korea since 2017
  • Field highlighted by six of the world’s top-10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including defending champion and two-time winner Justin Thomas
  • Brooks Koepka makes his first start since August, following an eight-week break to recuperate from injury
  • 11 South Koreans in the field, along with 2 additional players of Korean descent
  • Shadow Creek, a Tom Fazio design, hosts a PGA TOUR event for the first time
  • THE CJ CUP is one of two tournaments on the PGA TOUR that has been won by a top-five player in the OWGR in each of the last three seasons

Notes on The CJ CUP @ Shadow Creek Field

  • 23 of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including six of the top-10 players: Jon Rahm (No. 2), Justin Thomas (No. 3), Rory McIlroy (No. 4), Collin Morikawa (No. 6), Xander Schauffele (No. 8), Tyrrell Hatton (No. 10)
  • Five past FedExCup champions: Billy Horschel (2014), Jordan Spieth (2015), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018), Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019)
  • Both past winners of the event: Justin Thomas (2017, 2019), Brooks Koepka (2018)
  • 11 South Korean players: Byeong Hun An, Jeongwoo Ham, Sungjae Im, Sung Kang, Hanbyeol Kim, Joohyung Kim, Seonghyeon Kim, Si Woo Kim, Jaekyeong Lee, K.H. Lee, Tae Hee Lee
  • 2 players of Korean descent: Danny Lee, Kevin Na

2019 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES final leaderboard

PosPlayerR1R2R3R4Total
1Justin Thomas68637067268 (-20)
2Danny Lee67666869270 (-18)
T3Hideki Matsuyama69706965273 (-15)
T3Cameron Smith67696869273 (-15)
T3Gary Woodland71716566273 (-15)
  • Justin Thomas picked up his 11th PGA TOUR title and second win at THE CJ CUP
  • Thomas picked up his fourth win in Asia in only nine starts
  • Byeong Hun An posted the highest finish by a Korean player with T6

Current FedExCup standings (players in bold are in the field)

Pos.PlayerPointsWinsTop-10sStarts
1Bryson DeChambeau675122
2Matthew Wolff575022
3Stewart Cink562113
4Martin Laird532114
5Sergio Garcia510114
6Hudson Swafford505114
7Peter Malnati411024
8Tyler McCumber383024
9Harry Higgs300012
10James Hahn265033

Notable Players

Justin Thomas (FedExCup No. 50, World No. 3)

  • Owns four victories in 10 career PGA TOUR starts in Asia (2015 CIMB Classic, 2016 CIMB Classic, 2017 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, 2019 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES)
  • Leads the TOUR in fall wins (4) since the wraparound schedule started in 2013-14 (no other player has more than two in that span)
  • Holds the best first-round score (63/2017), best second-round score (63/2019), low 36-hole total (131/2019) and the low 54-hole total (201/2019/tied with Danny Lee) at THE CJ CUP
  • Making fourth start at THE CJ CUP (Won/2017, T36/2018, Won/2019)

Brooks Koepka (World No. 11)

  • Making first start on TOUR since a missed cut at the Wyndham Championship
  • Seven-time PGA TOUR winner, highlighted by a win at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in 2018
  • After posting rounds of 69-75 in defense of his title, withdrew prior to his third round at THE CJ CUP in 2019 due to a knee injury
  • Making third start at THE CJ CUP (Won/2018, WD/2019)
  • Finished the 2019-20 season No. 104 in the FedExCup standings; withdrew prior to the start of THE NORTHERN TRUST due to injury

Rory McIlroy (FedExCup No. 50, World No. 4)

  • 18-time PGA TOUR winner
  • Making tournament debut at THE CJ CUP
  • Finished T8 at the 2020 U.S. Open in September, his second consecutive top-10 at the event and fifth total
  • Concluded the 2019-20 season tied for eighth in the FedExCup standings, highlighted by a win at the WGC-HSBC Champions

Sungjae Im (FedExCup No. 29, World No. 23)

  • CJ brand ambassador
  • 2018-19 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year
  • Making third start at THE CJ CUP (T41/2018, T39/2019)
  • Has collected seven top-10 finishes in each season on TOUR (2018-19, 2019-20)
  • Won his first career PGA TOUR title at The Honda Classic in February, carding a final-round 66 to win by one stroke

Joohyung “Tom” Kim (World No. 125)

  • CJ brand ambassador
  • Making fourth career PGA TOUR start (MC/2020 PGA Championship, T67/2020 Safeway Open, T33/Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship)
  • As a 17-year-old, secured three wins on the Asian Development Tour in 2019 and earned playing rights on the Asian Tour for the remainder of the season; Won the Panasonic Open India for his first Asian Tour title at the end of 2019
  • Won the 2020 Gunsan Country Club Open in July to become the youngest winner on the Korean PGA Tour at the age of 18 years, 21 days

Miscellaneous Notes

  • THE CJ CUP is one of two tournaments on the PGA TOUR that has been won by a top-five player in the OWGR in each of the last three seasons (other: World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational); In all three seasons, the same player won both tournaments (2017-18: Thomas; 2018-19: Koepka; 2019-20: Thomas)

Tournament records and history

  • 18-hole score: 62 (Ryan Palmer/R4/2018)
  • 72-hole winning score: 267 (Brooks Koepka/2018)
  • Largest margin of victory: 4 (Brooks Koepka/2018)
  • Holes-in-one: 1 (Paul Casey/R2/No. 7/2018)
  • Playoffs: 1 (2017/Justin Thomas def. Marc Leishman)

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