2021 CJ Cup: Latest Betting Odds, Favorites and Sleeper Picks for the Summit Club
The boys of fall continue to impress with many young stars padding their Tour resumes.
Since we last joined you, both Ryder Cup snub Sam Burns and now International Team points leader for the 2022 Presidents Cup, Sungjae Im, have added their second PGA Tour wins and look to be contenders each week they tee it up for years to come. Just prior, Max Homa won the first tournament of Tour fall ball at the Fortinet Championship. It was his third win on Tour and he is now just another asset to the already abundance of riches in American golf.
We are now in week two of the mini-Vegas swing and it brings as many stars as golf fans could hope for during the autumn run. The CJ Cup was originally based in South Korea on Jeju Island, but after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it moved to Shadow Creek last year where Jason Kokrak won. Organizer ultimately decided to keep the 78-man no cut event in Las Vegas again this year and it will include the top-60 from last year’s FedEx points list and sponsor exemptions.
According to SI Sportsbook, the favorite is two-time winner of this tournament back in South Korea, Justin Thomas, at 11-1. To follow are world No. 2 Dustin Johnson and “no cut” event specialist Xander Schauffele at 12-1. Next up is Open Champion and Summit Club member Collin Morikawa at 16-1. To close out the notables is Jordan Spieth at 18-1 in his first appearance since the Ryder Cup.
Instead of being blinded by the lights of the Vegas strip and high-profile players teeing it up, we’re going to go with a guy who’s been due for a win on U.S. soil his entire career. So, for our favorite, we like the value in Louis Oosthuizen at 30-1. In the current top-20 of the world rankings, Oosthuizen is the only player without a win in 2021. It’s remarkable considering he had three top-5s at majors, added 11 top-25s in 17 starts and hasn’t missed a cut. What we like the most is that he played last week and finished T-14, so look for Oosthuizen to be right there again to finally breakthrough for an elusive win.
For a midrange pick, Australian Marc Leishman looks great at 40-1. In the inaugural year of this event in 2017, Leishman lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff, but that was in South Korea. The six-time PGA Tour winner has been off to a scorching start in his first two events, finishing fourth at the Fortinet Championship and third last week at the Shriners Children’s Open. During this timeframe, Leishman ranks second in strokes gained: putting and should be able to keep the momentum going for another successful week in Vegas.
For a sleeper, Harold Varner at 80-1 is the right play here. Varner is a proud new father and another recent new father, Jon Rahm, won the U.S. Open the same week. Not saying there is any correlation, but it could offer Varner some good vibes heading into the week. On top of that, in his first two starts of the new season, Varner finished 16th and 11th. He ranks in the top-10 in strokes gained: putting and total so far this year, so Varner may also be looking to finally capture his first win on U.S. soil as well.
2021-22 picks scoreboard:
Winners:
Top 5s: TBD
Top 10s: TBD
Top 20s: TBD
2021 CJ Cup: Latest Betting Odds for the Summit Club
Here are some notable odds, according to SI Sportsbook:
- Justin Thomas 11-1
- Dustin Johnson 12-1
- Xander Schauffele 12-1
- Collin Morikawa 16-1
- Jordan Spieth 18-1
- Rory McIlroy 20-1
- Viktor Hovland 25-1
- Sam Burns 25-1
- Tony Finau 28-1
- Sungjae Im 28-1
- Brooks Koepka 28-1
- Louis Oosthuizen 30-1
- Cameron Smith 30-1
- Scottie Scheffler 30-1
- Abraham Ancer 33-1
- Webb Simpson 33-1
- Hideki Matsuyama 33-1
- Harris English 33-1
- Paul Casey 40-1
- Shane Lowry 40-1
- Tyrrell Hatton 40-1
- Tommy Fleetwood 40-1
- Marc Leishman 40-1
- Jason Kokrak 45-1
- Joaquin Niemann 45-1
- Si-Woo Kim 50-1
- Adam Scott 50-1
- Max Homa 50-1
- Justin Rose 50-1
- Patrick Reed 50-1
- Sergio Garcia 50-1
- Kevin Na 55-1
- Aaron Wise 55-1
- Cameron Tringale 60-1
- Talor Gooch 60-1
- Russell Henley 60-1
- Alex Noren 70-1
- Charley Hoffman 70-1
- Maverick McNealy 70-1
- Brian Harman 80-1
- Jason Day 80-1
- Harold Varner 80-1
- Ian Poulter 901
- Keegan Bradley 90-1
- Kevin Streelman 90-1
- Gary Woodland 100-1
- Emiliano Grillo 100-1
- Rickie Fowler 100-1
- Erik Van Rooyen 100-1
- Jhonattan Vegas 100-1
- Branden Grace 100-1
- Cameron Davis 100-1
- MacKenzie Hughes 125-1
- Chris Kirk 125-1
- Kyoung-Hoon Lee 125-1
- Kevin Kisner 125-1
- Matt Jones 125-1
- Carlos Ortiz 125-1
- Patton Kizzire 125-1
- Charl Schwartzel 150-1
- Rasmus Hojgaard 150-1
- Stewart Cink 150-1
- Sebastian Munoz 150-1
- Lucas Glover 200-1
- Tom Hoge 200-1
- Byeong Hun An 200-1
- Keith Mitchell 200-1