In the middle of its three-week swing through Asia, the PGA Tour takes on The Club at Nine Bridges in South Korea starting Oct. 18 with the second annual CJ Cup title at stake. Much like last week at the CIMB Classic, the CJ Cup field is limited to 78 golfers and each one will play all 72 holes. Defending champion and 2017 FedEx Cup winner Justin Thomas opened as the betting favorite at +550 odds at BookMaker.eu.
Freshly-named PGA Tour Player of the Year Brooks Koepka came in as the second favorite with odds of +975. Thomas and Koepka are the only players with odds below +1250. Coming off an impressive win at the CIMB Classic last week and losing to Thomas in a playoff last year at the inaugural CJ Cup, Mark Leishman opened as the fifth favorite at +1475. Sungjae Im is one of the top Korean golfers in the field and lists The Club at Nine Bridges as his home course. If course knowledge is worth anything, Im has a definite advantage over the field and comes off at +4500 on the odds board at BookMaker.eu.
Odds to Win 2018 CJ Cub at Nine Bridges at BookMaker.eu
Justin Thomas +550
Brooks Koepka +975
Jason Day +1250
Hideki Matsuyama +1450
Marc Leishman +1475
Paul Casey +2400
Cameron Smith +3050
Billy Horschel +3150
Tyrrell Hatton +3225
Louis Oosthuizen +3850
Gary Woodland +3850
Adam Scott +4050
Xander Schauffele +4075
Alex Noren +4125
Byeong Hun An +4150
Emiliano Grillo +4250
Sungjae Im +4500
Kyle Stanley +5500
Brandt Snedeker +6555
Ryan Moore +7000
Charles Howell III +7050
Si Woo Kim +7050
C.T. Pan +7500
Joaquin Niemann +7500
Abraham Ancer +7525
Kevin Na +7555
Kevin Chappell +8500
Ian Poulter +8500
Chesson Hadley +8555
Rafa Cabrera Bello +9000
Beau Hossler +9050
J.B. Holmes +9500
Shubhankar Sharma +9555
Kevin Tway +10000
Charl Schwartzel +10000
Jamie Lovemark +10500
Austin Cook +10500
Whee Kim +11000
Adam Hadwin +11000
Jimmy Walker +11500
Danny Willett +11500
Charley Hoffman +11500
Scott Piercy +11500
Jason Dufner +11500
J.J. Spaun +11500
Ryan Armour +12000
Michael Kim +12500
Andrew Landry +12500
Joel Dahmen +12500
James Hahn +12500
Odds Analysis
Justin Thomas +550
Thomas won here last year defeating Leishman in a playoff for his seventh career Tour victory and he has a chance to regain the world No. 1 ranking, which he held for four weeks back in May. His win last year was aided by an opening round 9-under 63 and fueled Thomas to wins at the Honda Classic last February and the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in August. Thomas finished tied for fifth at the CIMB Classic last week and needed a final-round 8-under 64 just to get there. He may not retain his title, but Thomas should be among the top-5.
Brooks Koepka +975
It’s been a crazy year for Koepka, who missed time with an injury, was reportedly in a feud with a teammate at the Ryder Cup and won two majors along the way. He added hardware to his trophy case recently by taking home the Jack Nicklaus Award as the PGA Tour player of the year. Koepka won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship last season, just the fifth player to win both in the same year. He competed in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship a few weeks ago tying for fifth at 10-under.
Hideki Matsuyama +1450
If he’s healthy Matsuyama has as good a chance as anyone in the field to lift the trophy on Sunday. He skipped the CIMB Classic last week with an apparent injury, but there has been no official word on what kind of injury or the severity. The top Japanese player on the Tour ended last season in fine form with five straight top-15 finishes, including T4 at the Dell Technologies Championship and the Tour Championship.
Sungjae Im +4500
Our sleeper pick just because of his knowledge of the course. Im joins the field as one of the top-3 Korean golfers in the official world golf rankings and lists The Club at Nine Bridges as the course he grew up playing. The 20-year-old opened his rookie campaign with a share of fourth-place at the Safeway Open two weeks ago and should be a contender for another strong finish in his own backyard.
Course: The Club at Nine Bridges - 7,203-yards, Par-72.
The course made its debut last season and proved to be quite challenging, ranked as the fourth-hardest on the Tour. The fairways are wide open and approach shots proved to be easy with nearly 70 percent of the golfers finding greens in regulation. The trouble was on the greens and the wind played havoc as well. In calm conditions, which are expected this weekend, a score of 16 to 20 under par could be a winner.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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