2021 CJ Cup: Top 10 power rankings at The Summit Club

The CJ Cup is headed to its third venue in as many years as the pandemic has hindered its ability to remain at its home base of Nine Bridges in Jeju Island, South Korea.

Last year, the PGA Tour moved the event to Shadow Creek, an exclusive club in Las Vegas. Sin City is still the locale in 2021, but this week’s field of 78 players are headed to The Summit Club.

The Summit Club is a Tom Fazio design like Shadow Creek. It’s a par 72 measuring 7,431 yards. The course is at about 2,000 feet of elevation, which is about of third of what players deal with at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California, for example.

The course is in between the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and the Las Vegas Strip. It plays more like a parkland style course than a traditional desert layout.

Expect a lot of bunkers in play and undulating green complexes. Good iron players and long putters should have an advantage this week.

The PGA Tour was in Las Vegas last week for the Shriners Children’s Open, so there will be some players sticking around for both weeks.

It won’t be scorching hot this week in Las Vegas. It’ll be dry and sunny with temperatures in the 60s-80s and winds not expected to reach double digit miles per hour often.

There’s a very strong field assembled this week for a no-cut, guaranteed money event. The top players from the PGA Tour are invited with eight spots also reserved for Korean players. Five of the eight qualified via standing in the Korean PGA and three more got in via their Official World Golf Ranking position.

While there have been no pro tournaments held at The Summit Club for us to rely on for course history, I do think some of the pros who reside in Las Vegas may have a slight advantage as this is a course they would have at least likely checked out a time or two and are familiar with.

Let’s get down to business determining this week’s top 10 going into the CJ Cup: