The First Look: THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

The TOUR returns to Texas this week for THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch. Jason Day ended a five-year winless drought here last year. He’s back to defend, highlighting a field that also includes local favorites Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim and Will Zalatoris.

There’s a lot to play for this week at TPC Craig Ranch. It’s the last opportunity for players to qualify for the next Signature Event, the Wells Fargo Championship, via the Aon Swing 5 and Aon Next 10, and players also will be keeping an eye on the standings for the FedExCup, Olympics and Presidents Cup. With Day in the field alongside a strong contingent of Korean players who call Dallas home, the International Presidents Cup Team is gathering for another team-building dinner this week.

No matter what you’re playing for this week, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson is a perfect opportunity to make a big splash.

Here’s everything else you need to know as the TOUR returns to the Dallas metroplex.

FIELD NOTES: Jason Day returns to TPC Craig Ranch looking to go back-to-back. K.H. Lee repeated as champion in 2022-23. Day, who also won this event in 2010, has three top-10s so far this season… Jordan Spieth is the highest-ranked player in the world teeing it up at THE CJ CUP. Spieth finished runner-up here in 2022, finished T10 at the Valero Texas Open earlier this month and is hoping that a hometown event will kickstart his springtime. In his last five starts, He has three missed cuts (including at the Masters) and is coming off a wrist injury at the RBC Heritage… Tom Kim returns to action after a pair of solid results in his last two starts. He finished T30 at the Masters after shooting the low round of the day, a 66, in the final round. He also notched his second top-20 of the season at the RBC Heritage… Will Zalatoris will tee it up again as his comeback season continues after back surgery last year. Zalatoris has two top-five results in 2024, and it appears his top-tier ball striking has returned as he sits ninth in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green this season… Zalatoris and Spieth will be amongst the locals trying to break a long-standing curse, as no one Texan has won this event since Scott Verplank in 2007… Other notables to tee it up at TPC Craig Ranch include 2024 winners Jake Knapp, Nick Dunlap and Stephan Jaeger along with Adam Scott, Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee and Byeong Hun An. An is one of just two players to be inside the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 every week so far this season.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Sixteen-year-old Kris Kim of England is set to make his TOUR debut. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) calls Kim “the outstanding teenage prospect in English men’s golf.” He went unbeaten in four matches at the Junior Ryder Cup last year in Rome –defeating phenom Miles Russell, 5 and 4, in Singles – and is a proven winner across the Atlantic. He is the son of former LPGA Tour player Ji-Hyun Suh… Former world No. 1 amateur Taiga Semikawa of Japan will make his fifth start on TOUR this season. Semikawa has found the weekend three times already in 2024 on TOUR. He’s a four-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour – including twice as an amateur. He also finished second on last year’s Order of Merit behind Keita Nakajima… David Nyfjall won the 2023 Byron Nelson Award from the Salesmanship Club of Dallas and Golf Coaches Association of America. The recipient, a graduating senior, is recognized for his achievement in the classroom, on the course and in his community. Nyfjall was the 2019 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and won the 2022 Big Ten individual championship… Other sponsor exemptions were given to TOUR winners Cody Gribble, Jimmy Walker and Ryan Palmer… Kelly Kraft, Zecheng Dou and Austin Smotherman round out the sponsor invites.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson is the final event for players to qualify for next week’s Wells Fargo Championship, the next Signature Event on the calendar, via the Aon Swing 5 and Aon Swing 10… Fresh off his victory at the Corales Puntacana Championship, Billy Horschel remains atop the Aon Swing 5 but Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer – on the back of their playoff loss at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – made significant moves onto the list. Trainer moved all the way from No. 65 to No. 4, while Ramey moved from No. 48 to No. 2… Wesley Bryan dropped one spot to No. 3 while Kevin Tway moved from No. 3 to No. 5… Peter Malnati was bumped from the Aon Next 10 with Shane Lowry’s victory alongside Rory McIlroy at TPC Louisiana. Lowry moved from No. 14 to No. 3 in the Aon Next 10 with the win.

COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: The whole of the TOUR TOP 10 remained the same after the Zurich Classic with Scottie Scheffler remaining on top… Lowry zipped all the way from No. 41 to No. 12 in the standings, just 60 points back of the 10th spot after his win at TPC Louisiana while McIlroy moved from No. 44 to No. 15… An and The Sentry champion Chris Kirk remain the only golfers to be inside the TOUR TOP 10 every week so far this season.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, par 72, 7,414 yards. Boasting Zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens, golfers will have to navigate the Rowlett Creek, which crosses the course on 14 of the 18 holes, on the Tom Weiskopf (with D.A. Weibring as consultant) design. The course opened in 2004.

72-HOLE RECORD: 259, Steven Bowditch (2015 at TPC Four Seasons). Aaron Wise, Sung Kang and Jason Day’s 23-under-par 261 in 2018, 2019 and 2023, respectively, are the lowest against par; Bowditch was 18-under after heavy rain turned TPC Four Seasons into a par-69 layout for the final three rounds. Wise and Kang shot their scores at Trinity Forest, while Day did so at TPC Craig Ranch.

TPC Craig Ranch record: 261, Jason Day (2023)

18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Arron Oberholser (Round 2, 2006 at Cottonwood Valley GC), Keegan Bradley (Round 1, 2013 at TPC Four Seasons), Sebastian Munoz (Round 1, 2022 at TPC Craig Ranch), S.Y. Noh (Round 1, 2023 at TPC Craig Ranch)

LAST TIME: Day won for the first time on the PGA TOUR in five years after a 9-under 62 in the final round at TPC Craig Ranch. He topped Si Woo Kim and Austin Eckroat by one and broke a 105-event drought on TOUR. Day’s first TOUR title came at the same event in 2010. Kim made birdie on the 72nd hole to briefly tie Day, but Day had hit his third shot, a wedge from 79 yards, to just 2 feet and rolled in the birdie of his own to seal the victory. C.T. Pan, whose 62 tied Day for the low round of day, finished fourth while hometown hero Scheffler was amongst the trio tied for fifth and three shots back of Day’s 20-under winning total.

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