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CJ CUP Byron Nelson

PGA Tour: CJ Cup Preview

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson is held in the northern suburbs of Dallas, not too far from the sports paradise of Frisco. The TPC Craig Ranch will host THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson for the fifth time, honoring the legacy of the tournament namesake, Byron Nelson. It was the first PGA TOUR event to be named in honor of a professional golfer. Nelson had 52 career PGA TOUR wins, and won a record – 18 titles with 11 straight – in 1945.

Native Texan Jordan Spieth of Dallas will make his 13th career tournament appearance. His best finish? Was 2nd/2022. He made his PGA TOUR debut as a 16-year-old at this event in 2010 and finished T16 that year. He has finished inside the Top 20 in each of his last three starts on TOUR (T12/Valero Texas Open, T14/Masters Tournament, T18/RBC Heritage)

CJ Group ambassadors in the field include: Byeong Hun An, Sungjae Im, Si Woo Kimand Kris Kim; Im (No. 20) and An (No. 37) are the two highest-ranked players from South Korea in the Official World Golf Ranking.

An interesting factoid: 11 of the last 16 champions at THE CJ CUP Bryon Nelson have been international players, including the last five (Sung Kang/South Korea/2019, K.H.Lee/South Korea/2021-22, Jason Day/Australia/2023, Taylor Pendrith/Canada/2024)

Sung Kang (2019) and Taylor Pendrith (2024) are the two past champions in the field

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas

YARDS/PAR: 7,569 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECT: Tom Weiskopf

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,900,000/$1,782,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Taylor Pendrith

PAST RESULTS: (link)

OVERVIEW: (PGATourCom)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

BYRON NELSON ORGANIZATION: (link)

Pendrith Takes CJ CUP Byron Nelson

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McKINNEY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Taylor Pendrith of Canada birdied the par-5 18th hole to beat Ben Kohles and win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in a dramatic finish on Sunday at TPC Craig Ranch on the outskirts of Dallas.

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Pendrith was stuck on 22 under for five straight holes, parring Nos. 13-17 while playing partner Kohles made impressive birdies at the 16th and 17th greens to tie and then pass him for the lead.

But, with the tournament on the line, Kohles missed the 18th fairway and came up short of the green, landing between two bunkers. He couldn’t get his third shot up onto the green, and once he finally did, he missed a 5-foot par save. That reopened the door for Pendrith, whose lag putt from 41 feet left him 3 feet for the winning birdie and his first career PGA Tour victory.

Pendrith posted a final-round 67 to go 23-under 261 for the week. Kohles’ 66 powered him to the runner-up finish, and Swedish veteran Alex Noren placed third at 21 under after a Sunday 65.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Third Round at CJ CUP

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – PGA TOUR rookie Jake Knapp shot (64-64) over the opening two rounds, becoming the third player to shoot 64 or better in first two rounds of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. The others? Scottie Scheffler/64-64/2023, Tiger Woods/64-64/1997). Pretty good company to keep.

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Knapp, the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta winner, seeks to become the first rookie to win twice on TOUR in the same season since Xander Schauffele(2017 Greenbrier Classic, 2017 TOUR Championship).

After equaling his career low round on TOUR with a bogey-free 8-under (63), 18-hole leader Matt Wallace (T2/-13) carded a 5-under (66). The 2023 Corales Puntacana Championship winner and four-time winner on the DP World Tour is making his second start at this event (MC/73-73/2022).

At 16 years, 7 months, 3 days, Kris Kim (T36/-7) became the youngest player to make a cut on the PGA TOUR since Kyle Suppa at the 2015 Sony Open in Hawaii and youngest in tournament history with the previous being Jordan Spieth in 2010.

The top five FedEx Cup points earners from the Corales Puntacana Championship, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson will earn spots in the Wells Fargo Championship via the Aon Swing 5, while the Top 10 players in the FedEx Cup standings not otherwise exempt through THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson will qualify via the Aon Next 10.

Aon Swing 5:

  1. Billy Horschel — 300.000
  2. Matt Wallace T2 247.85
  3. Troy Merritt T2 247.116
  4. Chad Ramey MC 167.167
  5. Kelly Kraft 4 165.531

Spieth, the world No. 20 and Dallas native (MC/-4), missed the cut for the second time in 12 appearances (MC/2017). Other notables to miss the cut (at -6) include: Thomas Detry, Matt Kuchar, Robert McIntyre and Kevin Eisner.

CJ CUP Byron Nelson Leaderboard | Round 2

1 Jake Knapp 64 64 128 (-14)

T2 Troy Merritt 67 62 129 (-13)

T2 Matt Wallace 63 66 129 (-13)

4 Kelly Kraft 64 66 130 (-12)

Full Leaderboard: (link)