Rory McIroy shows no signs of slowing down as he heads to Congaree Golf Club as the defending champion for this week’s 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina. The nomadic PGA Tour event, initially intended to be a South Korean staple, was contested at the Summit Club in Las Vegas last year. McIlroy went 25 under to edge a surging Collin Morikawa by one stroke. He went on to win the Tour Championship to close last season, and while this is his first PGA Tour appearance of this campaign, he remains in top form. The Northern Irishman has finished in the top five in all three of his events on the DP World Tour this fall, and he is part of a loaded field teeing off Thursday at Congaree. Six of the world’s top 10 players are scheduled to compete this week. No. 2 McIlroy is joined in that group by top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, two-time CJ Cup winner Justin Thomas, former No. 1 Jon Rahm, two-time major champ Morikawa and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
McIlroy is listed as the 13-2 favorite in the latest 2022 CJ Cup odds, with Rahm (9-1) and Scheffler (11-1) not far behind. Thomas (16-1), Max Homa (16-1) and Fitzpatrick (18-1) also are among other top contenders in the CJ Cup 2022 field. Before you lock in any 2022 CJ Cup picks or bets, be sure you check out the PGA Tour predictions, best bets and sleepers from golf insider Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on those plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.
At the Zozo Championship, McDonald nailed a first-round leader, backing 80-1 Brendan Steele before he closed with four consecutive birdies to lead by one stroke after Thursday’s round. The expert also hit two of his three matchup plays, including tournament winner Keegan Bradley over Corey Conners, one of the pre-tournament favorites. Anyone who followed McDonald’s advice cashed in huge.
Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 CJ Cup field and is locking in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions.
Top 2022 CJ Cup expert picks
Shockingly, McDonald is fading Tom Kim (28-1) despite the rising young star’s recent success. The South Korean won the Shriners in Las Vegas two weeks ago and tied for 25th on Sunday in Japan, but his travel schedule could catch up with him. His game also is less than ideal for Congaree, as he hits it straight and makes his putts but doesn’t have a ton of power. He ranks 192nd in driving distance so far, at less than 287 yards. The 20-year-old will have trouble keeping up with the big hitters in this field, and his accuracy is unlikely to make up for that.
On the other hand, the expert knows McIlroy is one of several players in this field who play well on Tom Fazio designs. In addition to his victory on the architect’s Summit Club track last year, he went 22 under to finish fourth in the BMW Championship at Caves Valley in 2021 and has two victories and a runner-up at Quail Hollow. McIlroy has been on a tear, finishing in the top 20 in all but one event since his runner-up finish at the Masters last April, a span that includes three victories. He also has his eye on the No. 1 ranking, with a chance he could take it this week. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2022 CJ Cup golf picks
Before this week’s PGA Tour event near Hilton Head, McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2022 CJ Cup. He has several outright plays, including a monster longshot that would bring a massive payout of 150-1. You can find out who it is, and see all of the expert’s PGA picks, at SportsLine.
So which 2022 CJ Cup picks should you target? Which golfer priced at 150-1 could pull off a stunning victory this week at CJ Cup 2022? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top prop picks for CJ Cup 2022, all from the expert who ended last season up 42 units on outright plays, and find out.
2022 CJ Cup odds, field, top contenders
See full CJ Cup 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Rory McIlroy +650
Jon Rahm +900
Scottie Scheffler +1100
Max Homa +1600
Justin Thomas +1600
Sungjae Im +1800
Matt Fitzpatrick +1800
Shane Lowry +2200
Jordan Spieth +2200
Viktor Hovland +2800
Tom Kim +2800
Sam Burns +2800
Collin Morikawa +2800
Tyrrell Hatton +3500
Cameron Young +3500
Hideki Matsuyama +4000
Taylor Montgomery +4500
Keegan Bradley +4500
Billy Horschel +4500
Aaron Wise +4500
Maverick McNealy +6500
Corey Conners +6500
Brian Harman +6500
Andrew Putnam +6500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +6500
Tom Hoge +7000
Russell Henley +7000
Mito Pereira +7000
Keith Mitchell +7000
Emiliano Grillo +7000
Cam Davis +7000
Tommy Fleetwood +8000
Si Woo Kim +8000
Scott Stallings +8000
Sahith Theegala +8000
Rickie Fowler +8000
Jason Day +8000
J.T. Poston +8000
Alex Noren +8000
Adam Hadwin +8000
Taylor Moore +10000
Sebastian Munoz +10000
Seamus Power +10000
Matt Kuchar +10000
Harris English +10000
Denny McCarthy +10000
Davis Riley +10000
Kurt Kitayama +13000
K.H. Lee +13000
J.J. Spaun +13000
Webb Simpson +15000
Wyndham Clark +15000
Sepp Straka +15000
S.H. Kim +15000
Ryan Palmer +15000
Luke List +15000
Kevin Kisner +15000
Chris Kirk +15000
Alex Smalley +15000
Trey Mullinax +18000
Gary Woodland +18000
Brendon Todd +18000
Lee Hodges +20000
Byeong Hun An +20000
Brendan Steele +20000
Troy Merritt +25000
Justin Suh +25000
Danny Willett +30000
Chez Reavie +30000
Lucas Glover +40000
John Huh +40000
Yoseop Seo +50000
Yongjun Bae +100000
Sanghyun Park +100000
Sanghun Shin +100000
Chanmin Jung +100000
Yeongsu Kim +100000