The final leg of the PGA Tour’s Vegas Swing is here with the CJ Cup heading to a new course—The Summit Club. After it opened in 2019, this Tom and Logan Fazio design earned runner-up honors in Golf Digest’s Best New private survey. Located in the Red Rocks area west of the Vegas Strip, Summit Club is part of the Discovery Land portfolio, a group of high-end courses built around luxurious residential communities (with lots owned by Tom Brady, Phil Knight and other big names around the world).
Built with playability in mind for its main constituents (the wealthy homeowner), The Summit Club’s defense comes around the greens—with width in the fairway and run-ups around these green complexes providing options for all levels. Of course, most golfers don’t play this par 72 from over 7,400 yards—but that’s what faces the elite field this week. In this no-cut, 78-man field comprises of seven of the top-10 players in the world (and 24 of the top 30).
Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele opened as co-favorites on Monday at BetMGM after their dominant showings at the Ryder Cup. Though DJ won in Saudi Arabia in February, he’s seeking his first win in the United States since the Masters in 2020. JT and Xander have proven to be dominant in no-cut, smaller field events: Nine of JT’s 14 victories have come in no-cut events (including two past CJ Cups) and three of Xander’s four triumphs are in the no-cut form.
Perhaps the most attention from the groups of favorites, however, should be paid to Collin Morikawa, who is a member at Summit Club, even sporting its logo on his staff bag. The Vegas resident uses the swanky Vegas jaunt as his home base, and given the unfamiliarity with most in the field with this venue, Morikawa has a huge-field advantage at the CJ Cup—as he seeks his sixth PGA Tour title. Maverick McNealy, by the way, also plays out of Summit Club, if you like that narrative.
Here are the opening odds from our friends at BetMGM for the 2021 CJ Cup at The Summit Club: