Out of the Rough: THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson (2026)

Pushed back a few weeks on the PGA Tour schedule from a season ago, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson now follows the PGA Championship.

This of course, was due to the addition of the Cadillac Championship as a Signature Event this season.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson is annually played at TPC Craig Ranch and has been since 2021.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson was first played in 1944 and won by legendary five-time major champion Byron Nelson in which the event is now named after.

The event used the name Texas Victory Open from 1944 to 1968 when it was renamed the Byron Nelson Golf Classic. The tournament has been associated with Nelson’s name ever since.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson had played within the limits of Dallas County for all of its existence but until 2021 when it was moved to TPC Craig Ranch. This will be the sixth year that TPC Craig Ranch hosts this event.

The Field

Fresh off the PGA Championship and a grueling stretch of the schedule beginning with the Masters Tournament and including three Signature Events, a depleted field is in line for this week in Texas.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler headlines this week’s field as he returns to his home state of Texas after a frustrating PGA Championship.

Other notable golfers playing this week include Jordan Spieth, Michael Brennan, Pierceson Coody, Ryo Hisatsune, Max Greyserman and Matti Schmid. 

Scheffler also comes in as the defending champion as he lapped the field a season ago, winning by eight strokes.

Other former winners of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch teeing it up this week include Taylor Pendrith (2024) and K.H. Lee (2022 & 2021.)

The Course

TPC Craig Ranch plays as a par 72 at just shy of 7,500 yards.

The course was funded by McKinney businessman, David Craig, who spent $30 million in 2004 to develop a golf course that one day would host the Byron Nelson tournament. Along the way, PGA legend Tom Weiskopf was the one who designed the track.

TPC Craig Ranch was one of the easiest courses on all of the PGA Tour. The last four events held at TPC Craig Ranch were won by Scheffler (-31,) Pendrith at -23 (2024), Jason Day at -23 (2023) and K.H. Lee at -26 (2022.)

A massive $22 million redesign took place following the 2025 installment and will be played for the first time this season.

The redesign, led by hall-of-famer Lanny Wadkins, was implemented to make the course more challenging and prevent players from scoring really low-scores.

TPC Craig Ranch saw a complete turf replacement in this redesign and the fairways were narrowed. They are now laid in Stadium Zoysia.

The greens were transitioned to 777 Bentgrass for a more challenging putting surface.

The bunkers were also repositioned in the redesign, as they are now brought into play off-the-tee.

Rowlett Creek serves as one of the only defenses that this course offers as it is intertwined with 14 holes on the course. Although, water doesn’t have much of an impact this week unless drives get away from golfers.

Along with Rowlett Creek, the course's main line of defense is the wind and if it is blowing, the importance of accuracy increases.

The par-three fourth hole saw a complete design of its green as it now features a Biarritz-style green, which means a deep trench now runs through the middle of it.

Additionally, the 12th hole now features the narrowest tee-shot on the course. The 15th hole now sees water come into play much more often. Holes 16, 17 and 18 were also adjusted to play significantly tougher in the wind. 

Long irons are one of the most important things however as almost 35-percent of approach shots have come from 200-plus yards.

If a green is missed, golfers could be in a bit of trouble as the greens are surrounded by bunkers. Over the last four years, golfers who have finished in the top five have more than doubled the field in sand saves. This goes to show how difficult the bunkers can be around the green.

The three par fives this week play at an average of a modest 558 yards. Hole 18 plays as the longest of the par fives at 569 yards. There are plenty of scoring opportunities on the par fives this week and they must be taken advantage of.

In all, this is a relatively bland course that is set up to allow for some very low scores. The ability for multiple golfers to go very low adds to the excitement of the event.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, the weather looks like it could cause some problems this week. Thursday is currently calling for an 80-percent chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. Friday and Saturday are calling for just a 25-percent chance of precipitation as Sunday is calling for a 60-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms. Temperatures will be the lowest on Thursday at 74-degrees before jumping to 81-degrees on Friday and 80-degrees on Saturday. Temperatures will be the highest on Sunday at 82-degrees. Wings will begin the week at eight miles-per-hour on Thursday before peaking at 11 miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will settle to nine miles-per-hour on Saturday and finish the week at eight miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Putting on Bentgrass (SG: PUTT Bentgrass)

• Average Driving Distance

• Proximity to the hole from 200+ Yards

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Birdie or Better Percentage

• Bogey Avoidance

• Par Five Average Scoring

• Scrambling

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

Betting Card

Brooks Koepka (+2700)

This was my first click this week. If you’ve ever tuned into an Out of the Rough Podcast, you know Jake and I like to take into consideration if we believe someone can go toe-to-toe with Scheffler on a Sunday. I believe Koepka can do just that. He is currently second on Tour in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, third in SG: APP, fifth in GIR%, seventh in par-five average scoring, eighth in SG: TTG, 29th in average driving distance, 43rd in birdie-or-better percentage, 70th in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 89th in bogey avoidance, 148th in scrambling and 156th in sand saves percentage. He placed 55th last week at the PGA Championship and prior to that was 11th at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. He missed the cut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with teammate Shane Lowry but was 12th at the Masters Tournament. He missed the cut at the Texas Children’s Houston Open but was 18th at the Valspar Championship, 13th at THE PLAYERS Championship and ninth at the Cognizant Classic. He last played this event in 2021 where he missed the cut. There is no one arguably more fired-up to win a regular season event than Koepka so he can get into Signature Events. We know he doesn’t like to play regular season events. A win is coming and I believe it could be this week. 

Pierceson Coody (+4000)

This was another name I had circled for this event. Now, at this point, you know I’m a huge Coody fan and he fits the bill this week. He is currently ninth on Tour in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 13th in birdie-or-better percentage, 14th in average driving distance, 27th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 32nd in GIR%, 57th in SG: APP, 65th in SG: TTG, 66th in par-five average scoring, 82nd in scrambling and 84th in bogey avoidance. He missed the cut last week at the PGA Championship but prior to that placed 24th at the Truist Championship, 38th at the Cadillac Championship and 16th at the RBC Heritage. All those finishes were in Signature Events among the Tour’s best. He placed 25th here a season ago as well. He is also born-and-raised in Plano, Texas, a mere 15-minute drive from McKinney, Texas. 

Mac Meissner (+7500)

Meissner is in some great form coming into this week. He last played the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic where he placed ninth. Prior to that he placed tenth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, 30th at the Valero Texas Open and 28th at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He made the cut at this event a season ago, placing 65th. Meissner is currently 14th on Tour in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 19th in bogey avoidance, 20th in par-five average scoring, 35th in GIR%, 41st in scrambling, 45th in SG: TTG, 60th in SG: APP, 61st in average driving distance, 71st in birdie-or-better percentage, 137th in sand saves percentage and 139th in SG: PUTT Bentgrass. 

Tom Kim (+8000)

Before you get your panties in a bunch and rolling your eyes at me for backing my favorite golfer, let me explain. He placed sixth in his latest outing at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. He did miss the cut at both the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Valero Texas Open but prior to those two, he made the cut in eight consecutive events, highlighted by an 18th place finish at the Valspar Championship. He’s played this event each of the past four seasons. He missed the cut in 2025, placed 52nd in 2024, 34th in 2023 and 17th in 2022. Kim is currently 13th on Tour in par-five average scoring, 23rd in bogey avoidance, 27th in scrambling, 31st in GIR%, 36th in SG: APP, 38th in sand saves percentage, 43rd in SG: TTG, 46th in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 67th in birdie-or-better percentage, 108th in average driving distance and 110th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards. 

Zecheng Dou (+14500)

It was three years ago at this point, but Dou placed fifth here in 2023. He last played this event in 2024 where he missed the cut. He placed 13th in his latest outing at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. He does have a series of miss cuts on the season, but his season is also highlighted by a 21st place finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, 17th at the Cognizant Classic and 13th at the WM Phoenix Open. Dou is currently 15th on Tour in SG: APP, 38th in SG: TTG, 41st in GIR%, 43rd in both average driving distance and scrambling, 54th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 56th in birdie-or-better percentage, 57th in bogey avoidance, 72nd in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 88th in par-five average scoring and 143rd in sand saves percentage. Not a bad resume for someone 145/1. 

2025 Betting Card

• Stephan Jaeger (+4500) - T56th

• Jake Knapp (+6600) - T39th

• Ryan Gerard (+7000) - MC

• Lee Hodges (+10000) - MC

• Cam Davis (+12500) - T60th

• Nico Echavarria (+17500) - T25th

2024 Betting Card

• Tom Hoge (+2800) - T41st

• Byeong Hun An (+3500) - T4th

• Tom Kim (+4000) - T52nd

• Aaron Rai (+6000) - T4th

• Mark Hubbard (+7000) - T52nd

• Andrew Novak (+11000) - T30th

• Robert MacIntyre (+12000) - MC

2023 Betting Card

• Jason Day (+2100) - 1st

• Tom Kim (+2100) - T34th

• Tom Hoge (+5000) - T43rd

• Eric Cole (+9000) - T23rd