While he may no longer hold the honor of being the top player in the world, Jon Rahm looked the part on Friday at the 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina. After a middling performance on Thursday saw him sign for a 2-under 69, the Spaniard put things into hyperdrive in his second round, riding a hot putter to a course record 9-under 62 and a share of the 36-hole lead with Kurt Kitayama.

Standing at 11 under for the tournament, it’s baffling to suggest that Rahm could have gone even lower in Round 2 — but he could have done exactly that. Letting two birdie opportunities from inside 10 feet fall by the wayside and making bogey on his final hole of the day with a pitching wedge in hand from the middle of the fairway, the former world No. 1’s dinner may not taste as sweet as he had once hoped.

Rahm retreated with his dropped shot on 18, and not only shares the top spot on the leaderboard with Kitayama but is only one stroke clear of Cam Davis and Aaron Wise. However, even more dangerous than those two previous PGA Tour winners is Rory McIlroy — the man who has accomplished such a feat 22 times in his career and is only two off the lead after rounds of 66-67.

The leaders

T1. Jon Rahm and Kurt Kitayama (-11)

Not a ton of people know about Kitayama, and this was on full display in his post-round interview. Members of the media asked how he earned his PGA Tour card this year even though it is his second season and he finished inside the top 70 of the 2021-22 FedEx Cup, and it just goes to show what he may be up against over the weekend.

To say he’s just a random player plucked from the depths of the PGA Tour would be a massive slight, however. The Las Vegas resident traversed through the DP World Tour to begin his career, an unconventional route, and was rewarded with a pair of victories in 2019. 

He rarely flinches when in contention, but the problem is the consistency in which he is able to position himself near the top of the leaderboard. Last year, Kitayama notched three top-three finishes at the Scottish Open, Honda Classic and the Mexico Open where he fell to Rahm by a single stroke.

Other contenders

T3. Cam Davis and Aaron Wise (-10)

5. Rory McIlroy (-9)

T6. Lee Hodges, Tyrrell Hatton, K.H. Lee, Billy Horschel, Tom Hoge, Brendon Todd, Shane Lowry and Tom Kim (-7)

What a bizarre two days for Wise, and I mean that in the best possible way. After having one of the best single-round iron performances of the last decade on Thursday, the former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year relied primarily on his putter Friday. Gaining north of three strokes on the greens in the second round, it will be interesting to see if the 26-year-old will be able to marry the two over the final 36 holes.

“Really, just green reading after the round yesterday. I felt like I misread a few putts so I just went out there with my caddie, did a few green-reading drills, put some coins out, make sure they were breaking the way I thought they were,” said Wise. “Seemed like today I saw the lines a little better; it kind of matched up with what I was seeing and some putts dropped.”

Jon Rahm is a man possessed on the greens

Earlier in the week, I asked Rahm about his hot streak on the greens over his last four tournaments, which he has continued at Congaree through the first two days. The Spaniard simply replied, “I’m confident,” and he displayed this confidence in the second round. Gaining north of 3.5 strokes on the putting surfaces — in addition to a putt made from off the green on No. 16 — the flat stick remains the club to watch in regards to Rahm, but in a completely different light compared to earlier this year.

“Yesterday, I’m going out on the early shift with the greens a little bit faster, a little bit more slick, right. Those are about as good of greens as you’re ever going to find. After spending the last few months in Europe and Arizona with over-seeding, I haven’t seen greens like this in a long time,” said Rahm. “So it’s one thing to do it on the putting green, and it’s one thing to do it on the course. Yesterday, it seems it took me a little bit to get used to the greens, but towards the end I had it down and putted really, really well, so today I just kept it going.” 

2022 CJ Cup updated odds, picks

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

• Jon Rahm: 17/10
• Rory McIlroy: 33/10
• Aaron Wise: 8-1
• Kurt Kitayama: 17/2
• Cam Davis: 9-1
• Tom Kim: 22-1
• Shane Lowry: 30-1
• Tyrrell Hatton: 50-1
• Tom Hoge: 50-1

Halfway through this tournament, and only nine players find themselves with odds of 50-1 or shorter. There is plenty of respect at the top of this market, and rightfully so. When given the choice between Rahm and McIlroy versus the field, it’s hard to not look in the direction of the two Europeans.

Still, there is a ton of golf to be played, and we have seen already that big numbers lurk around Congaree. With this in mind, it is another European in Shane Lowry who looks to be a fine option. The Irishman accidentally damaged his putter in the first round and was able to overcome this obstacle with strong iron play; he ranks third in strokes gained approach and fourth in strokes gained tee to green. At 7 under, he is only four strokes off the lead and sits at a price similar to what he was at the onset of the week.

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Just about everything one would want from a big-time golf tournament was in play Thursday during Round 1 of the 2022 CJ Cup. Some stars played well, while others missed 2-foot putts. One player hit his irons better than nearly anyone in the last two decades. Two early-week media room darlings shot a combined double digits under par.

And of course, Congaree Golf Clubs showed out in its first PGA Tour appearance since summer 2021.

Trey Mullinax and Gary Woodland share the lead at 6 under a quarter of the way through the tournament, but they’re going to have some problems in the form of top 25 players in the world coming around the turn as the week wears on. Regardless, they’re the two we’ll focus on as we take a look at what happened on Thursday at the biggest PGA Tour event of the fall in the CJ Cup.

The leader

1. Trey Mullinax, Gary Woodland (-6): These two had eerily similar rounds. Both did their damage with their iron play and putting, and together they combined to make 15 birdies on the day. Woodland summed it up well (and succinctly): “I had all three aspect of driving, ball-striking, putting going on, and it was a good day,” he said.

Whether either can keep it rolling all four rounds is another question. Mullinax ended last season playing some of his best golf. He won the Barbasol Championship and finished in the top 15 in two FedEx Cup Playoff events. However, he missed the cut at each of the first two events this season, and I rarely trust a hot putter. Woodland seemingly has more staying power, but he also doesn’t have a top 10 since the U.S. Open in June. With the caliber of horses just outside of the top spot, I’m also dubious about his chances to pull off what would be his first victory since the 2019 U.S. Open.

Other contenders

T3. Aaron Wise, Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Cam Davis, Kurt Kitayama (-5)

T9. Viktor Hovland, Si Woo Kim, Taylor Moore, Tyrrell Hatton, Seamus Power, Sungjae Im (-4)

Wise is going to be interesting this year. He’s not as far away from playing his way onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team as some folks might think, and he had an all-time day on Thursday with his iron play. His 5.99 strokes gained on approach shots was so overwhelming that he was worse than field average in every other category and still shot 5 under, good for a top-five position after 18 holes.

According to Data Golf, Wise’s round was the 31st-best over the last 18 years. Some of the looks he got were flat-our preposterous, and I’m excited to see how he backs it up over the final three days.

Tom and Rory

After Rory McIlroy’s answer to Tom Kim’s question in the press center on Wednesday got so much run, this week has officially turned into The Tom and Rory Show at Congaree. They constituted one of the better groups on Thursday, shooting a combined 10 under to get into the top five on the leaderboard. Kim raved about McIlroy’s length, and McIlroy said Kim flushed everything he looked at. A duel between those two on Sunday would be all kinds of fun.

“He didn’t really miss a shot out there,” said McIlroy of Kim, who made the only bogey either of them made with a five at the 18th hole. “He’s a very, very solid player, plays to his strengths. Makes the same swing at it pretty much every time, like it’s very, very consistent, very steady. He was sort of picking my brain a little bit out there about like speed training, and I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no.’ I think as he gets a little older and maybe a touch stronger, he’ll get that naturally, but I was like, ‘Do not go down that path, you’re good the way you are.'”

They were both pretty awesome on Thursday.

Spieth?

Jordan Spieth shot a 4-over 75 on Thursday and duffed an incredibly short putt in the process. One round does not a tournament make, but the putter was a problem last year, and this golf course should suit him pretty well. It’s not a situation that needs to be monitored, but you would like to see Spieth get off to a better start to his 2022-23 season than T73 in a 78-player field.

2022 CJ Cup odds, picks

• Rory McIlroy: 9/2
• Tom Kim: 9-1
• Trey Mullinax: 9-1
• Gary Woodland: 9-1
• Aaron Wise: 11-1
• Cam Davis: 12-1
• Kurt Kitayama: 16-1
• Viktor Hovland: 18-1
• Sungjae Im: 18-1

I wouldn’t touch either Mullinax or Woodland, and as silly as it seems to back McIlroy at +450, it’s not that dissimilar to his pre-tournament odds (+650). I’m looking a bit further down the board at both Holand and Im, though. Both put together scores mostly with the putter on Thursday, but both have top 10s in one of their last two starts. If either starts flagging irons, the hunt for a trophy will be on as they sit comfortably at 18-1.

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A limited but loaded field is set to tee off Thursday at Congaree Golf Club in the 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and reigning FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy are among the 15 players ranked in the top 20 who are scheduled to compete. Also among the 78 golfers in the CJ Cup 2022 field are 10 top players from the Korean Tour. The event was originally contested at Nine Bridges in South Korea but has been played in the States since the start of the pandemic. Sungjae Im, a runner-up alongside Scheffler at the Tour Championship at East Lake, is part of that contingent, along with rising star Tom Kim. There are several multiple major champions in the field, including Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Collin Morkiawa. U.S. Open champs Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick also are among the top contenders in the 2022 CJ Cup field. McIlroy is the defending CJ Cup champion after going 25 under to edge Morikawa by one stroke at The Summit Club in Las Vegas last year.

Caesars Sportsbook lists McIlroy as the 13-2 favorite in its latest 2022 CJ Cup odds, followed by Rahm (9-1), Scheffler (12-1) and Thomas (14-1). They are the clear favorites, with Fitzpatrick (22-1), Im (22-1) and Viktor Hovland (25-1) not too far behind. Spieth (28-1) and Morikawa (30-1) are among the slightly longer shots in the CJ Cup 2022 field, along with young stars like Sam Burns (28-1), Cameron Young (28-1) and Kim (30-1). 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

In a surprise prediction, McDonald is fading Kim, even though the phenom won his second tournament just two weeks ago. The 20-year-old went 24 under at TPC Summerlin to win the Shriners, then went to Japan, where he finished T-25 at the Zozo. That’s a lot of travel, but even if his youth makes that a non-issue, his skills aren’t an ideal fit. Congaree will reward power, and that isn’t part of Kim’s game. He typically averages about 300 yards off the tee and is 192nd in driving distance so far this season at less than 287. He will have a lot of ground to make up.    

On the other hand, the expert knows McIlory has power to spare and that the rest of his game has been locked in for months. The 33-year-old is on the brink of regaining the No. 1 ranking for the first time in two years, and he has been in great form since winning the Tour Championship two months ago. He has three straight top-five finishes on the DP World Tour, and his win at The Summit Club and two at Quail Hollow show his affinity for Tom Fazio designs. He was No. 1 in scoring average and second in driving distance last year and could make short work of Congaree. 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

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