BlogThe CJ Cup at Nine Bridges Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

So it’s off to Korea for an event that not only has a lot of FedEx Cup points (500) but a purse of $9.5 million with the winner getting $1.7 million.  To put this in proper perspective, of the 50 events on the PGA Tour last year, only nine events had higher first place prizes, the four majors, four WGC and the Players Championship.  So this week’s CJ Cup will have the highest prize of any non-major, non WGC field.  So we can see why so many good players would venture halfway around the world.  Another reason for the journey is the site, the Club at Nine Bridges is located on the Jeju Island which is an island about 75 miles off the southern end of the Korea peninsula.  So it’s located approximately 500 miles from Seoul in an area that is considered the safest place in not only South Korea but in the world.

On top of that players won’t even have to worry about dealing with Seoul, they can fly straight to Jeju International airport from either Tokyo, Hong Kong, or even Beijing.  There are a lot of high-end hotels on the island, that cater to high-end travelers, in Asia the Jeju Island is know has a significant vacation place, so for the players, they can feel safe this week.  So in a way, this is a bit of a working vacation for a lot of cash.

As for the field, they were able to get some marquee players between Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, and Paul Casey, along with a lot of top Korean players, 13 to be exact and two players from the Asian Tour.  So the tournament will be one of the most competitive events outside a major, even for those that finish at the bottom of the leaderboard they will get over $17,000, so the payday will be outstanding.

Course information:

As for the course, it’s considered one of the top-100 in the world and the best course in Korea.  It was built in 2000 as part of a very private club attracting the top names in Korea business.  When it opened in 2001 Chi Chi Rodriguez called the course the “Taj Mahl of Golf.”  It’s architects Ronald Fream, and David Dale isn’t very well know, and they set out to create a Scottish Highlands course set at the foot of Mount Halla, an extinct volcano that is 6,300 feet tall. The Korean people have worshiped the mountain as being a place that God’s and spirits live on.  The biggest strength of the course is that it is a nature-friendly course and the designers made sure not to ruin the stunning setting with its views of the countryside and Mount Halla.  After the course opened in 2001, the LPGA played on the course four years between 2002 and 2005.  Last year for the first time the best players in the world got to play it in a competition.

Set out in two distinct nines, the course begins with the heavily treed and rolling outward nine and closes with the lake infested back nine, strangely considered by the club to be its Scottish side. The front nine is very good and has a distinctly British feel with some nice plateau greens, a Redan-shaped par three and even a Principal’s Nose bunker complex. The more open back nine is less impressive and a much more modern, Americanized form of golf design, complete with a cliché par five finisher that bends almost 90 degrees toward an island green.  The course features eight bridges – the ninth is metaphorical as a link from the club to members and guests.

For this week the PGA Tour has set up the course to play at par 72 and 7,184 yards. Water comes in play on six holes with three holes being played over a ravine.  The course is well bunkered, but like most modern courses they are more for decoration and shouldn’t be much of a problem for players.

For those that played in Malaysia, the weather will be drastically different.  Last week was very hot and humid; this week will be cool with each day being in the mid-60s with no rain.

Let’s take a look at vital stats that are important for those playing at Nine Bridges.

Last year was the first CJ Cup@Nine Bridges, and it was a big success. The Club at Nine Bridges is one of those hidden gems. A private course that is on Jeju Island, so even if you were to make a trip to Korea, landing in Seoul, it would take a significant effort to fly to Jeju Island, landing in the small town of Jeju and then making the 30-mile trek to Nine Bridges.
For the average golfer the course is, but for the best golfers in the world, it’s pretty tame. That showed as 24 of the 78 players were under par, but for the week the course played to a 73.19 average making it the 4th hardest course on the PGA Tour in 2018.
Since the course has just one year of history and for those wanting to see who played the best go to this link for the results of last year’s tournament with full course stats.

Based on the most vital stats from Nine Bridges from last year’s event and data from all the players in the field with PGA Tour stats from 2018 we have cobbled together some stats that will help you decide on who statistically to chose. Unfortunately with the event being played in Korea, we again like last week don’t have true Shotlink stats to work with, they don’t even measure driving distance, so we are stuck with the old-fashion stats of fairways and greens hit, scrambling, number of putts, birdies, and eagles made. Now the stats from last year don’t come out and tell you the secrets to playing well at Nine Bridges. But in looking deeply at some of the stats, one thing does get your attention, play on the par 5s. Last year’s winner Justin Thomas played them in 9 under, while runner-up Marc Leishman played them in 12 under. For the week the par 5s played to an average of 4.88 making the course the second hardest on tour in 2018 so playing par 5s well is essential. On the opposite of the spectrum the par 5s may have played easy, but the par 3s and 4s played tough as winner Thomas was 3 over on the par 3s and 3 under on the par 4s. Another stat that sticks out and tells you something about it is hitting fairways, last year the 78 players hit an average of 72.42 fairways meaning that only two other courses had easier fairways to hit, so if you think about this, you come to the conclusion that this course is perfect for sluggers. As for hitting greens, the course ranked 38th in hitting greens again meaning that a lot of players hit greens. And even though standard putting stats are not an accurate indication of putting, in looking at the putting stats it shows that more putts are made on this course than any other course on the PGA Tour.
So the stats are very vague based on one year, so in looking at our four categories, we are picking very complicated stats that will help find those that are best suited for Nine Bridges. So we choose Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green because it helps to see who drives it long and straight and hit lots of greens. These are all traits in helping one make lots of birdies and eagles. Next up we recognize the importance of putting, so we have picked strokes gained-putting. Next is Par Breakers because we see the importance of making a lot of eagles and birdies, last year the course ranked 8th on the PGA Tour in Par Breakers. As we pointed out lot’s of birdies are made on this course. Our final category is Par 5 average, as we said first off that stat strikes out as being essential to win this event.

*Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green: Looks at the combination of length off the tee and accuracy, then getting the ball on the green so it determines who is best at all of these items.

*Par Breakers: Players that make the most birdies and eagles averaged per rounds played

*Par 5 Scoring average: The find who plays the best on the par 5s.

65 of the 78 Players from this year’s field with stats from 2018.

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.

Here is a link to the other 55 players stats for the Nine Bridges.

DraftKings tips

*Here are the guys that cost the most on DraftKings this week:

• Justin Thomas – $11,700
• Brooks Koepka – $11,200
• Jason Day – $10,600
• Hideki Matsuyama – $10,400
• Marc Leishman – $10,200
• Paul Casey – $9,900
• Billy Horschel – $9,700
• Tyrrell Hatton – $9,500
• Xander Schauffele – $9,400
• Adam Scott – $9,200
• Gary Woodland – $9,100
• Cameron Smith – $9,000

Another week of no cuts, the first choice of Justin Thomas at $11,700 is a good one and a player that could win.  He was a quiet T-5th last week in Malaysia, is the defending champion and was great at the Ryder Cup, so we have to consider him even at his high price.  Brooks Koepka at $11,200 may not be as hot and has not played the course, so I say he is a toss-up.  The good about him, his length and accuracy will be a plus on this course, which is perfect for him.  The bad, he had some bad moments at the Ryder Cup but bounced back a week later and finished T-7th at the Dunhill Links.  Jason Day at $10,600 will take some solid thinking.  He hasn’t played since the Tour Championship, and he wasn’t that great in the FedExCup playoffs.  He was T-11th in this event last year and has had some good off time, so we will get to see if Day can mount a comeback in 2019.  His price is high, but he can win.  Now we have no idea on what kind of shape Hideki Matsuyama is in at $10,400.  He hasn’t played since the Tour Championship, but he ended his year with five solid finishes starting at the Wyndham Championship so I say he could be a good pick.  Now Marc Leishman at $10,200 caused me problems last week since I didn’t think he would play well and he won despite him not being on any of my teams.  After he almost won last year, I will correct and put him on some of my teams.  Paul Casey is at $9,900, and I will not be picking him, he has struggled and was T-13th last week.  The same with Billy Horschel at $9,700, he showed signs of not playing well in Malaysia, and I think it will carry over to this week, don’t take him.  Now Tyrrell Hatton is $9,500 mostly because he was runner-up in his last start at the Dunhill Links.  He is a good player, and Nine Bridges should suit his game so consider him.  Xander Schauffele is a tough choice at $9,400, he was 25th last week, and I don’t see any reason to take him at such an inflated price.  Adam Scott at $9,200 is also a player hard to justify, he hasn’t played well since the PGA Championship, and I don’t see him turning that around this week.  Gary Woodland at $9,100 was my horse last week, he was ok, but the final nine killed me when he made three bogeys.  Nine Bridges is good for him, so I say he will be a good pick along with Cameron Smith at $9,000.

*Players in that $7,500 to $8,900 price range, which ones are worth the money?:

Right off the bat is two good choices for you. First Alex Noren at $8,900 has all the stats, the only reason not to pick him he isn’t a birdie or eagle machine.  But Emiliano Grillo at $8,800 is, he earned a lot of points last week in Malaysia and will be a good pick for this week.  Like Brandt Snedeker at $8,500 again I think Snedeker is on the verge of winning, it could be either this week or next.  Rafael Cabrera-Bello strikes me as a player that will do well, and he is the right price at $7,900.  Also, like Chesson Hadley at $7,800 and Charles Howell III at $7,700.  Both are birdie machines and will make you some points.  One last buy is Ian Poulter at $7,600.

*Some of the “bargains” this week at the CJ Cup

Have to think that Kevin Chappell at  $7,300 is worth the money.  He makes a good amount of birdies and is really cheap.  Last week we took Kevin Mitchell at a good price, this week he is $7,100 and well worth it when you consider he makes a lot of birdies.  In the same realm I also like Jamie Lovemark and Jason Kokrak both at $6,800, also a good bargain is Ryan Palmer at $6,500 

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Nine Bridges:

Key stat for the winner:

Of the field of 78 players, only a handful have seen the course.  So for each player, it will be a new adventure learning the course.

Here are some more key stats to look to for this week:

• The course will be in perfect condition, and the greens will be some of the finest they play.  Since there isn’t much undulation in them, I think an excellent putter will do well.
• Last year we saw the epic playoff between two bombers, Justin Thomas and Marc Leishman.  Have to think that this will continue and if someone that bombs it has a big advantage, especially on the back nine which is more open than the front.  Also like a person that makes a lot of birdies, this is the trend on those playing a new course.  Remember this, no matter what people say about a course, the advantage is always on the top players in the world, they play a different game than all of us and shouldn’t have problems scoring on this course.
• One last thing, look for players that have done well of late.