A busy stretch of golf continues on the PGA Tour this week as players travel to TPC Craig Ranch for the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Taking to the par-71 layout for the fourth time in tournament history, players should expect ideal scoring conditions and plenty of birdies with a winning score potentially approaching 30 under.
Last year, it was Jason Day who emerged victorious as the Australian jumped back into the winner's circle for the first time in over five years. Now, he hopes to become the first golfer since K.H. Lee in 2022 to defend his Byron Nelson title
Day leads a large international contingent which includes Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Sungjae Im and a couple of Dallas-area residents in Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim. The Kims aren't the only local flavor to be making a tournament appearance; native Texan Jordan Spieth will also be in the field.
Spieth enters the Byron Nelson, a tournament where he made his PGA Tour debut as a high schooler many moons ago, without a ton of form. While the game has been tough for him, Spieth should relish the opportunity to play on home soil, especially since he nearly won this event a couple years ago.
While two weeks still separate players from the second major championship of the season, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson will represent the last call for preparation for some as next week's Wells Fargo Championship welcomes a limited field to Quail Hollow for a signature event.
2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson schedule
Dates: May 2-5 | Location: TPC Craig Ranch — McKinney, Texas
Par: 71 | Yardage: 7,414 | Purse: $9,500,000
2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson field, odds
- Jordan Spieth (14-1): The hometown kid has come close to taking down the Byron Nelson but has yet to add this trophy to his mantle. Spieth has found a little juice ever since the tournament transitioned to TPC Craig Ranch; he notched a top 10 in his first go around and finished runner-up to K.H. Lee in 2022. What he does this time is anyone's best guess as his form has been lackadaisical and his wrist has been nagging him. In his last seven starts, Spieth has one top 10, three missed cuts and a disqualification. He needs to find something in his game and fast.
- Si Woo Kim (16-1)
- Jason Day (20-1): The defending champion has been hit-or-miss since claiming his second Byron Nelson crown. While he has a number of quality results over the last year, Day has struggled with some consistency and arrives at TPC Craig Ranch looking to find something in his iron play specifically. The former world No. 1 has lost strokes on approach in four of his last five starts but has been buoyed by a strong effort from the putter. If he hopes to keep up in this birdie barrage, Day will need to squeeze more out of those scoring clubs.
- Adam Scott (22-1)
- Byeong Hun An (25-1)
- Alex Noren (25-1)
- Min Woo Lee (25-1): It hasn't been the best first full season on the PGA Tour for Lee, but he has flashed signs. He comes into Texas off a quality Masters start where he hit his driver brilliantly and found a little something with the irons. If those clubs continue to cooperate, Lee should have his way with the wide-open nature of TPC Craig Ranch. He's missed only one cut in 2024 but only has one top 20 -- a runner-up finish at the Cognizant Classic in early March.
- Sungjae Im (28-1): Im has been experiencing a difficult start to 2024, but he may be back on the upward trajectory following a quick trip to his native South Korea. The 26-year-old snatched a victory on the Korean Tour and continued a mini spurt of solid play that includes a T12 at the RBC Heritage. His game sets up well for TPC Craig Ranch, but between four straight weeks of action and worldwide travel, it may be a difficult ask.
- Tom Hoge (28-1)
- Tom Kim (28-1): Kim looks to be trending towards the type of player who picked off three early wins in his PGA Tour career. His iron play shined at Augusta National where he finished with a final-round 66, and he carried this over to Hilton Head where he finished T18. This marks Kim's third appearance in this tournament after finishing T17 in his debut and T34 a season ago.
2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson expert picks
| Winner (33-1): One of the most recent winners in Texas, Jaeger should be up for the challenge to nab his second PGA Tour victory in a four-tournament span. The German has been brilliant in 2024 as he has matched his already high floor with a newly found high ceiling. The reason for this uptick has been courtesy of added distance off the tee and timely putting. He ranks 10th in strokes gained tee to green over the last three months and should be comfortable at TPC Craig Ranch where he finished T11 in 2023. | |
| Contender (45-1): The Canadian can be hard to peg, but Hughes is playing some high-quality golf at the moment. He has connected on five straight cuts, which includes a T3 at the Valspar Championship and a T14 at the Houston Open. Hughes has found something in his iron play over the last month or so, which appears to be the missing link as he regularly rates out as one of the best short-game players. He lost nearly 2.50 strokes on approach in last year's tournament and still finished inside the top 15. | |
| Sleeper (200-1): So far in 2024, Skinns has either missed the cut or found his way into contention. Let's hope for the latter. The 42-year-old comes off a nice run at the Zurich Classic alongside Callum Tarren and marked his third quality result of the season to go along with a T7 at the Houston Open and T4 at the Cognizant Classic. The Englishman opened his 2022 Byron Nelson with rounds of 66-63 before falling off the pace over the weekend. With some experience now under his belt, Skinns should do much better should he find himself in a similar position. | |
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