This week the PGA Tour heads to Jeju Island in South Korea for the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, the second leg of its new Asian mini-swing. The CJ Cup, previously a co-sanctioned Asian/Korean Tour event, is now co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, as well, and the event serves as a great addition for players who traveled to Malaysia last week for the CIMB Classic.
The tournament will be contested over the par-72, 7,196-yard layout at Nine Bridges Golf Club and marks the first official FedExCup event ever held in South Korea. The limited field of 78 players is made up of the top available players from the final 2016-17 FedExCup Points List, to a floor of 125th position, as well as designated players who won marquee events on the Asian and Korean Tours.
Round 2 is already in the books and Titleist golf ball loyalist Luke List (Pro V1x) currently holds a 1-shot lead. The long hitter (List ranked 21st in driving distance last season with a 314-yard average) followed up an opening 68 with a 5-under-par round of 67 yesterday. List said he was looking forward to playing in these early-season tournaments an continuing the run of good play he enjoyed in 2017. The Vanderbilt alum had three top-3 finishes last season and ranked 50th in the FedExCup race.
“I knew my game was pretty decent," Said List, "and I’ve really enjoyed this course from the first time I saw it, so I had some positive vibes going. The wind was tricky out here, but any time you can have a clean scorecard you’re really happy about it. And any time you’re in the last group heading into the weekend, you’re doing well.”
Good luck to Luke and all of #TeamTitleist this weekend in South Korea!
Next week, the Tour will wrap up its travels through Asia with the first World Golf Championship on the 2017-2018 calendar, the WGC-HSBC Champions in China.
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TITLEIST BY THE NUMBERS
Of the 78 players in the limited field at this week's CJ Cup, 62% are trusting a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball for their success, more than four times the nearest competitor with 19% and more than all competitors combined.*
Titleist is also the top choice in iron sets (28%). Vokey Design Wedges are also tops in the approach, sand and lob wedge (53%) category and Scotty Cameron leads the putter category, with 42% of the field trusting a Scotty Cameron model.*
* Equipment counts provided by Darrell Survey
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SOCIAL BUZZ
Welcome to South Korea! View each hole on this creative layout.
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Take a look at the unique golf scene in Korea, courtesy of Golf Channel.
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It's been a long haul for 2017 FedExCup Champion and Player of the Year, Justin Thomas, but he's not coasting as he looks ahead to the off-season...
...Justin is in the hunt again, as you might expect when you hit PW into par-5's.
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The Scotty Cameron team shared a gallery of some of the Scotty putters that players are gaming this week.
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With the Tour in Asia, the Titleist Tour Van has headed briefly to the garage, getting tuned up and re-stocked in preparation for the new season. Titleist Brand Ambassador Patton Kizzire shared a great video from Scratch Golf that takes you on board this important hub for players out on the road.
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The momentum keeps rolling for last week's winner of the CIMB Classic, Titleist Pro V1 loyalist Pat Perez.
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During competition, there is a hole-in-one prize at the par 3, 218-yard 13th hole called "bibigo! Chef-go!" The first player to make a hole-in-one at the 13th wins a private Korean food party hosted by bibigo that represents the best of Korean cuisine. The global Korean food brand bibigo will provide their renowned chefs to the destination of the player’s choosing to throw a one-time Korean food party.
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Titleist Brand Ambassador Adam Scott made the trip to South Korea and it looks like he's gunning for that "bibigo! Chef-go!" prize.
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Farewell from beautiful Jeju Island!
#TeamTitleist