Large-Field GPP Breakdown: CJ Cup

Nothing like following the week of the PGA Championship with the CJ Cup, am I right? We finally get the “week off” that we’ve all been asking for, and this week definitely sets up to be a “lull” week when it comes to hype on the PGA Tour. So, we can probably expect more LIV bankruptcy news or something to pop up over the next couple of weeks. While the PGA Tour fans may not be that interested in the next couple of weeks, those of us in the DFS streets absolutely are, and prize pools have not changed from the normal PGA Tour event. So, that means it’s time to get to work and think about what we are doing in large-field GPPs this week.

PGA Championship – Review

I will start this off by giving a HUGE congrats to TeeJayorTJ from Discord for taking down the $25 lotto Milly Maker. This guy literally wins everything, so it’s just another day at the office for him, but it’s great to have the milly winner in large field come from the ETR population! There were also several other screenshots in Discord: Grex123 won the showdown lotto, fade won the $600 R4 Showdown for $100K, and many more. Overall, a fantastic week for the ETR population. You love to see it. Let’s take a look at TJ’s lineup from the lotto and see what he did:

• He went with a 10/9/9/7/6/5 lineup, one that hammered the $9K+ range and had some differentiators down low to make the full lineup. Note that this lineup had two players in the $9K range who projected as chalk but did NOT come anywhere near their projected ownership in this contest: Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele. A Rahm/Xander/Ludvig Aberg start was one that I personally did not have, but I did mention how playing all three “chalky” players at the top was a potentially unique strategy that would make you different from the field. I’m not sure if TJ thought Rahm/Xander would squeeze, but he was rewarded when BOTH came down to sub-15% ownership, making them the best plays on the slate. You love to see it.
• The lineup came in with a 61% cumulative ownership, mostly driven by Rahm and Xander coming in 10 points below their projected ownership in large-field contests. Max Greyserman down low was sub-1% owned. Overall, this lineup was one that followed cumulative ownership constraints at projected ownership (~80%) but differed in roster construction and with a sub-1%-owned player. Great build.

I personally love seeing well-thought-out lineups played by someone who sent a full 150 MME set into a tournament. I have long talked about how optimizer users need to figure out ways to get different from the field because so many of the entries are using optimizers these days. TJ clearly has a process that works for him, as he is consistently on top of leaderboards in a variety of different contests. Another shout-out to him.

CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Preview

Now we move on to the CJ Cup, played in the heat of McKinney, Texas, at TPC Craig Ranch. This tournament really is such a changeup from the tournaments that we’ve had recently. While the past few weeks have been tough courses with elite fields, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson features very few elite talents along with a VERY easy course. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the past five winners of the CJ Cup at TPC Craig Ranch:

• 2025: Scottie Scheffler (-31) def. Erik Van Rooyen by eight strokes

• 2024: Taylor Pendrith (-23) def. Ben Kohles by one stroke

• 2023: Jason Day (-23) def. Austin Eckroat and Si Woo Kim by one stroke

• 2022: KH Lee (-26) def. Jordan Spieth by one stroke

• 2021: KH Lee (-25) def. Sam Burns by three strokes