Large-Field GPP Breakdown: CJ Cup

It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve gotten a “regular” event, aka one with a full field and a 65-70 person cut. Well, it actually has, as we’ve had The Masters, RBC Heritage (signature event), and the Zurich Classic over the last three weeks. I personally have enjoyed these normal events much more than the other types of formats — there’s something about them that just feels right. It seemed like a fairly muted week for ETR subs at the Zurich, but I’m not sure if that’s because no one played the weird team event or we actually did poorly. Either way, I’m glad we get back to it, as we are on the road to the PGA Championship in mid-May. If you are in the hunt for $4,444 tickets, now is the time!

Zurich Classic – Recap

Zurich was definitely not as kind to me this year as it was last year, where I was able to extend my lead on Sky in the contributor contest with a huge single-entry win. I guess you could say it was a win for me this year, as I was able to successfully reset Sky’s $24K lead this year because we didn’t agree on any terms. Welcome, Sam, to the competition for the rest of the year.

Anyways, the Zurich is almost always defined by the number of 6/6 lineups you have. With a sub-2% 6/6 rate, you had to feel good about any MME set that had more than three 6/6 lineups in it. Unfortunately, my overweight position on Morikawa/Kitayama and Valimaki/whoever he played with anchored me down after a really great Thursday led by an Isaiah Salinda team that was barely owned. At the very least, despite a bad week in the Sand Trap, I was able to pick up a $4,444 ticket with one of my only 6/6 lineups. I personally can’t wait to compete with Discord legends like dolesy and roundsb for $1 million. Let’s take a look at the winning lineup for the smaller Sand Trap this past week:

• It was an interesting lineup that did NOT play Rory/Lowry or Morikawa/Kitayama, the two “top” teams on the slate. Fading Rory/Lowry immediately made you different, and this lineup started with a double-tap of the $9K range with Novak/Griffin and the Hojgaard brothers. The lineup also did NOT drop into the $6K range, instead choosing to go 9/9/8/7/7/7.
• The lineup had a cumulative ownership of ~67%, slightly lower than the 70% ownership minimum that I was targeting given the limited amount of teams in the event. As always, I don’t have any qualms with teams that are slightly under the threshold, and I am usually quite lax with those minimum rules depending on the lineup. 

Alright, it’s time to say goodbye to team golf for the rest of the year (other than the Ryder Cup, of course). Good riddance. Let’s talk about the upcoming CJ Cup instead!

CJ Cup at Byron Nelson – Preview