THE CJ Cup is a rare event on the PGA Tour schedule in that it is highly nomadic. In its initial years it was designed to be the circuit’s regular visit to South Korea and parked itself at the Nine Bridges club on Jeju Island. But COVID disrupted that plan, forcing a relocation to Las Vegas, first at Shadow Creek in 2020 and then The Summit Club last year. This year the sixth edition heads to a fourth spot: Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina.

Inspired by the great heathland courses of the United Kingdom and the sandbelt tracks around Australia, when it hosted the Palmetto Championship in 2021 the players were universal in praise of the look and feel of the place, with its sandy waste areas, tree-lined fairways, and (weather permitting) speedy greens and fast-running fairways.

This might be a third new American host in as many years but the trio of layouts all have one thing in common: Tom Fazio designed the lot and it’s an important factor. Back in the 2000s Fazio’s Raptor Course at Grayhawk hosted the Frys.com Open and it quickly became apparent that it was a course specialist’s test.

Furthermore, Xander Schauffele, who finished second at Shadow Creek in 2020, said ahead of the first round: “My home course is by Fazio and I do see some design aspects that are similar. There is a level of comfort on certain tee shots and on the greens, too. They’re trickier than people think. It took me a while to figure those out at home and hoping that that’ll help me here.”

When Congaree hosted 18 months ago Kevin Kisner said: “You’ll see a variety of shots from around the greens with no rough and run-offs. Guys can putt, chip or bump and run, kind of like you see links style in Scotland or England.” That makes a lot of sense given that heathland and sandbelt golf is as much like seaside golf as parkland ever gets.

Traditional visuals, the importance of the short game, Tom Fazio, and a linksy feel are the four factors that inspire this week’s trio of picks.

Each Way – Shane Lowry at 40/1

Irishman Lowry’s linksland credentials are not in doubt. He won the Irish Open at County Louth when still an amateur and then added victory in the Open at Royal Portrush in 2019. He also owns a fine record at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He actually missed the cut at the latter tournament in his last start but we can easily forgive that result because it came amid the boisterous celebrations after his triumph in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

He’s been in great nick throughout 2022 and that win was just a month ago. Moreover, he loves linksy golf and Wentworth is not pure heathland golf but it’s pretty close. Lowry was also third at Adare Manor in the JP McManus Pro-Am in early July, a course Tom Fazio renovated. And he has a superb record at another South Carolina course, finishing top 10 in four of his last five visits to Harbour Town.

Each Way – Jordan Spieth at 33/1

Another man with good South Carolina vibes is Spieth, who won at Harbour Town earlier this year. He’s also pretty good on the links, of course, with victory in the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale, second at Royal St George’s in 2021 and he was one blow shy of the play-off at St Andrews in 2015. In fact, the tricky green complexes should do what Spieth often requires to produce his best golf – get his imagination firing.

He repeatedly refers to this process ahead of pretty much any decent showing and it might even help that some observers believed Congaree is visually a little Augusta-like. If Spieth sees what they saw he might be in for a good week. His last individual start saw him card a closing 65 and then he top-scored at the Presidents Cup.

Each Way – Tyrrell Hatton at 33/1

Ahead of the Palmetto Championship Hatton said of Congaree, “Visually it’s great,” and the good feelings prompted a second placed finish. His links pedigree probably helped because he has 10 top 10 finishes by the British and Irish seaside including two Dunhill Links wins (and he was seventh there last month).

He also has a fine tournament record that takes in 14th and sixth in Korea, third at Shadow Creek and 18th at The Summit Club. To those two Fazio efforts he can add fourth at Adare Manor in July. He was 45th last week in Japan but before that landed a pair of top 10s in Europe.