A bit of history will be made this week with the first ever PGA Tour event being hosted in South Korea. The CJ Cup is being hosted at the much-lauded Nine Bridges course which was only opened six years ago. The course has been used a few times on the LPGA Tour but this is the first time it will be used on the men’s side. It is a course which is sat on a holiday resort on Jeju Island.
So it’s a new adventure but that means that punters have no course history to look at, which is something usually pretty useful when trying to size up a golf betting market. It is a decent market as well with a strong field taking part in the event which is being led up by Justin Thomas at a price of 15/2 with Paddy Power to claim the win. He was carrying pretty decent form down the back stretch of the season and has two top-two finishes in his last three outings.
Thomas, who got off to a slow start in Malaysia last week but recovered to a T17, is the highest ranking player in attendance this week. Paul Casey is trading well with four top ten finishes on the bounce in his current form and that’s something not to be messed around with. Other popular options at the head of the market at Tour Championship winner Xander Schauffele at 18/1 who backed up his surprise Tour Championship win with a third place last week in Malaysia.
Tony Finau has three straight top tens and then there is Marc Leishman who was showing the form of his life at the end of the season. On a track where none of these players have been tested before this should be very interesting. Jason Day, after a difficult 12 months has been well backed for the tournament as well and home hopes look to be resting on Young-Han Song and Kyung-Tae Kim.
Top Tip
Marc Leishman gets our nod. The course may take some steady management and Leishman, who was in nothing short of spectacular form down the final stretch of last season, has the tools to calmly go out and tame Nine Bridges and its contoured fairways. He can be backed at 6/4 with Paddy Power for a top ten finish.
Extra Places
Paddy Power are offering six places on on Each Way bets at 1/5 odds on the Outright Market in The CJ CUP this week. Applies to bets placed on the tournament outright before the market is turned in-play. The offer is open to both new and existing customers. Place part of each-way bets will be settled at 1/5th odds for the top 6 places.