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PGA DFS: CJ Cup course preview, stats and value plays

By George Zainoun

JEJU, SOUTH KOREA - OCTOBER 19: A general view of the course prior to the start of the first round of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on October 19, 2017 in Jeju, South Korea. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
JEJU, SOUTH KOREA - OCTOBER 19: A general view of the course prior to the start of the first round of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on October 19, 2017 in Jeju, South Korea. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images) /
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Brooks Koepka (C) of the US and Scott Piercy (centre R) of the US walk pass spectators on the eighteenth hole during the final round of the CJ Cup golf tournament at Nine Bridges golf club in Jeju Island on October 21, 2018. – Triple major champion Brooks Koepka will overtake Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose to become world number one for the first time after winning the CJ Cup on October 21, by four strokes. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP) (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)
Brooks Koepka (C) of the US and Scott Piercy (centre R) of the US walk pass spectators on the eighteenth hole during the final round of the CJ Cup golf tournament at Nine Bridges golf club in Jeju Island on October 21, 2018. – Triple major champion Brooks Koepka will overtake Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose to become world number one for the first time after winning the CJ Cup on October 21, by four strokes. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP) (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images) /

PGA DFS: CJ Cup Course Preview, Stats and Value Plays

As is the standard, the majority of the holes at Nine Bridges will be in the 400-450 yard range. We have four Par 5’s to attack but not all of them are reachable in two comfortably. For example hole 9 which features a 598 yard Par 5 is giving up 47% of birdies as opposed to hole 3 also a Par 5 only giving up 24%. There is such variance in every hole difficulty scattered throughout the course and this is due to the bunkers which are abundant and strategically placed in areas where they collect errant tee and approach shots, and most annoyingly so.

The historical finishers in the top 20 have typically had a 20% higher Sand Save percentage compared to those who don’t crack the top 50. It is massively important to factor in the short game this week and Around the Green numbers. Scrambling will play an important role in limiting the damage. This is also evidenced by a nearly 8% scrambling percentage here at Jeju Island over the average Tour event.

Approximately 70% of Greens in Regulations have also historically been hit from previous fields, quite obviously where these high numbers come from are from the size and quality of players in the fold and the size of the greens mentioned in the previous slide. What will be the most important factor to watch this weekend will be the weather. In 2017 the weather at Jeju Island was quite a challenge with natural winds swirling all week at nearly 20 mph. In fact, in that year Justin Thomas took home the inaugural event’s trophy a -9. Fast forward to 2018 where there was seemingly no wind variable and very pleasant weather, Brooks Koepka blew the field away at -21 with Gary Woodland at -17 behind him.

Meteorologists are predicting a 12-13 mph wind speed on Thursday, with rain and wind on Friday coupled with 13 mph winds. The weekend calls for much calmer conditions and with the impending rain passing, it should allow pins locations to be more receptive as the surfaces should soften. Luckily for us we don’t have a cut sweat to worry about, but unfortunately this does mean quite a bit more chalk from the Top Tiered players. Below I’ve organized in order of importance some Key Stats to target for the week if you are doing your own research (Which you should!!)

All of these can be found on the PGA Tours website and on outlets such as Fantasy National. If you are really digging deep, you will find extended stats on players from other tours at the Asian Tour Website, the Japan Tour Website, and of course the Euro Tour Site. Use the stats sections to your advantage, you will need to find the low owned players not known to many causal DFS players to avoid the chalk.

JEJU ISLAND – NINE BRIDGES:

  1. STROKES GAINED TEE 2 GREEN
  2. STROKES GAINED AROUND THE GREEN & SCRAMBLING
  3. STROKES GAINED: PAR 5 (500-550YARD)
  4. SG APPROACH (PROXIMITY 350-400, 400-450) 
  5. SAND SAVES GAINED
  6. SG PUTTING: B0B%

Because this is a shortened field, you’ll want to prioritize the best players that match these stats, and most are in the higher price range. In the next slides, I’ll provide some interesting options that are lower priced that may go overlooked.

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