2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Cheatsheet

Pat Mayo’s 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Cheatsheet

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Cheatsheet, Weather, Parlays, DraftKings Notes | Fantasy Golf Picks

THE FINAL WORD

Keith Stewart and I break down the new course setup, weather, rough conditions, green complexes, and exactly what skill set is needed to win this year’s CJ Cup.

WATCH: CJ Cup Byron Nelson 2026 Bets, One & Done, Preview | Keith’s Swing Tips: Fix Early Extension

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Cheatsheet Quick Bets

WINNER + PLACEMENTS

Get Michael Breenan +7300 (Win Only) at Coolbet Canada as a PME BOOST

BOMBS

FIRTS ROUND LEADER

SUB TO FREE PME NEWSLETTER TO GET ALL ARTICLES AND CHEATSHEETS EARLY + EXTRA INFO & BREAKING NEWS

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Cheatsheet Quick Picks

With Scottie looming as an overwhelming favorite, I’ve opted to spam the long shots and take finishing placements along with them. I think this is better than the “without” markets, but I’ve been known to be wrong. I’ve spent less money on these bets this week than I did simply betting on Scheffler last week. So I’m already ahead!

Taylor Pendrith — Former winner at this event who has flashed moments of his former self in spurts over the past two months. Pendrith has had massive gain weeks with his driver in two of his past three starts, excellent iron play in two of his past three, and finally gained on the greens for the first time since Riviera back in February. I’m hoping the switch to bentgrass greens was the reason, not merely random chance at a course where long term putting skill didn’t at all correlate with who putted well for the week… hmmmmmm.

Michael Brennan — Brennan is almost an auto bet at any lower quality field event once he clears +5000. Not that he’ll necessarily play well (most times he won’t), but he has the most repeatable, elite skill in golf: Driving the golf ball. Brennan’s combination of distance and accuracy aren’t found often. And he even did us a solid by imploding in the final round at the PGA Championship, pushing his name down the betting board this week. No, he’s not likely to beat Scheffler or even most in the field, but you’re going to get a week (like when he won in Utah) where he hits his irons decently, rides a hot putter, and wins by a touchdown.

Austin Eckroat — The runner-up to Jason Day here in 2024, Austin 316 is back to playing quality golf after a career dip. While playing sparingly because of the schedule, Eckroat’s posted consecutive Top 20s in which his irons and short game have started to surge. The driver isn’t all the way back to previous elite accuracy levels, but that’s not too much of a concern at Craig Ranch.

Jordan Smith — Here’s to Smith not losing over seven strokes putting in only two rounds, like last week.

Johnny Keefer — Ball striking savant who dominated these sorts of courses while winning the Korn Ferry Tour a year ago. The putter has been ice cold but popped for a T3 at a similar “hit it wherever you like off the tee” course in Texas earlier this year at the Houston Open.

Jhonny Vegas — You’ll see Vegas as a popular pick this week, primarily because of his metrics from the PGA Championship. Vegas was 2nd in the field tee-to-green a week ago and a sterling 148th on the greens. Devotees will know, awful putting isn’t anything new for Vegas. But they’ll also know the three-time PGA winner has played his best golf at courses where he can smash driver, and even if he can put up 75% of his T2G numbers from last week, he doesn’t actually have to gain all that much with his putter to contend. He just needs to not actively putt himself out of the tournament.

Hayden Springer & Pontus Nyholm — Just let me have my fun, alright?

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Cheatsheet -Weather

Not much wind or projected wave advantage, but it looks like it could get soggy on the weekend.

WIND TOWER: McKinney Texas

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Cheatsheet- DraftKings

The week after not only a major, but three large events in a row, means there’s going to be a certain apathy toward attacking this DK slate. The content isn’t as intense; people are just throwing lineups in for the sake of it or just trusting the base projections and calling it a week. These are usually the weeks where you can get the most leverage.

Blickle and I talked through the entire pricing structure. Scottie is way more expensive than everyone else. The thing is, if you take him, you’re left with $7,000 for five players, and that doesn’t look all that great. I’ve played a few Scottie lineups, but Blickle pointed out that he was full fading in anything but the largest GPPs because, even if Scottie wins, the odds of having the other five guys correct from that range are almost impossible.

Scottie is Tier 1. Then Spieth, Si Woo, and Brooks are Tier 2. But Tier 3 is basically $7,400–$9,400. Yes, Keith Mitchell is better than Johnny Keefer, but not to the same extent Brooks is better than Mitchell. So, two Tier 2 players and four bottom-end Tier 3 players is a sane build, but I went completely balanced with six Tier 3 players in a lot of qualifiers and single entries.

Projections, Stats & Data Powered by the Rabbit Hole Tool

GOLF HERE!!!

While you may no reason to ever visit Nova Scotia, lemme let Golf Digest do a sell job on ya. A true SJ. We’ve have 3 of the world’s Top 100 courses up here. I’ve played them all and definitely think you should cross it off your bucket list one of these summers. Hit me up if you need to talk logistics.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

I’m taking off for the Black Desert to play 9 rounds in 5 days across Utah and Nevada, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be new PME Episodes. You all know me better than that by now. Would never leave your feeds dry. There’s a BEST OF with Cam, Rob and I Thursday, then it’s ALL NEW episodes after that.

  • Saturday: Charles Schwab Research Show
  • Monday: BRAND NEW CUST CORNER
  • Tuesday: BRAND NEW JUDGE CUST

Then I’ll be back Wednesday with Geoff and the Picks and Bets show for Colonial.