2017 CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES

(3rd of 45 events in the 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season)

Jeju Island, Korea                              October 19-22, 2017                                          Purse: $9,250,000

NINE BRIDGES Golf Club                                                                               Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,196

Third-Round Notes – Saturday, October 21, 2017

Weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 65 degrees. Wind NE at 10-20 mph with gusts from 25-30 mph.

Third-Round Leaderboard

Justin Thomas                          63-74-70—207 (-9)

Scott Brown                             66-70-71—207 (-9)

Anirban Lahiri                           69-71-69—209 (-7)

Marc Leishman                         66-72-71—209 (-7)

Justin Thomas

Reigning FedExCup champion and first-round leader Justin Thomas shot a third-round 70 at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and is tied for the lead with Scott Brown.

The opening-round 63 matched Thomas’ second-best opening round on the PGA TOUR with the 2015 John Deere Classic. Thomas’ lowest opening round was a memorable 59 at last year’s victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The 63 was Thomas’ ninth career round of 63 or better.

Thomas’ record when holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead:

Tournament                                               Result

2015 CareerBuilder Challenge                   T7

2015 CIMB Classic                                     1

2017 Sentry Tournament of Champions     1

2017 Sony Open in Hawaii                         1

2017 WGC-Mexico Championship              T5

2017 Dell Technologies Championship       1

Thomas enjoyed a breakout season in 2016-17 on the PGA TOUR. His success began in the fall in Asia with his second consecutive victory at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, He later won back-to-back events in Hawaii at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open in Hawaii. Thomas’ 59 in the opening round of the Sony Open made him the youngest of seven players (eight times) to record a sub-60 round on the PGA TOUR (23 years, 9 months, 14 days).

Thomas’ season got even better in the late summer and early fall, as he won his first major championship at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. In the FedExCup Playoffs, Thomas was able win the Dell Technologies Championship, the second of the four FedExCup Playoffs events, and entered the TOUR Championship at No. 2 in the standings.

With a runner-up finish at the TOUR Championship, Thomas capped off his season with the FedExCup, the fifth winner under the age of 30. Thomas joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth as the only players to win five times in a season, including a major, before the age of 25.

Thomas made his debut on the U.S. Presidents Cup Team at Liberty National Golf Club, where he recorded a 3-1-1 record in a victorious effort for the U.S. Team.

With his historic season, Thomas was voted 2016-17 PGA TOUR Player of the Year. He is currently the No. 4 player in the Official World Golf Ranking and is making his second start of the PGA TOUR season.

Third Round Leader Notes

Third round leaders/co-leaders are one for two on converting to victory this season, with Pat Perez accomplishing the feat at last week’s CIMB Classic.

Scott Brown

Scott Brown birdied the final hole to move into a tie for the lead. Brown is looking for his second victory on the PGA TOUR to go along with his 2013 win at the Puerto Rico Open.

This is the fourth time Brown has held a lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR, previously converting victory at the 2013 Puerto Rico Open. He most recently held a share of the 54-hole lead at the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open, before finishing T49 following extremely strong winds and stormy conditions on Sunday afternoon.

Brown completed his sixth season on the PGA TOUR last season, ending with 19 cuts made in 29 starts, highlighted by runner-up finishes at the Genesis Open and Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He finished the season at a career-best 55th place in the FedExCup standings. His T20 finish at the BMW Championship equaled his career-best eight top-25 finish of the season.

Anirban Lahiri

Starting the third round five shots back, Anirban Lahiri carded four birdies against a lone bogey for a 3-under 69 to move up to T3 alongside Marc Leishman, two shots behind co-leaders Justin Thomas and Scott Brown. Lahiri made birdies on the second, fifth, sixth and 10th holes and dropped a shot on 16. Lahiri is coming off a T10 in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last week and is chasing a first PGA TOUR victory.

Lahiri’s best finish on the PGA TOUR was a T2 at the Memorial Tournament in June. He qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs and finished T9 at the BMW Championship in September, the same week he was picked by Nick Price to play in the Presidents Cup for the International team. Lahiri finished 51st in the final FedExCup standings in what was his second full season on the PGA TOUR. The Indian played on the Asian Tour previously where he holds seven victories and won the Order of Merit in 2015.

This is Lahiri’s second best position through 54 holes in his PGA TOUR career, his best came at last year’s CIMB Classic, when he held a four-shot lead through three rounds before eventually finishing T3.

Marc Leishman

Marc Leishman sits two off the lead following a third-round 71 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Leishman spent a year on the Korean PGA Tour early on in his career winning the 2006 Jisan Resort Open. The three-time PGA TOUR winner had a career season in 2016-17 with two victories to finish 6th in the FedExCup standings. 

In Leishman’s three victories on the PGA TOUR, his best position through 54-holes was leading at last season’s BMW Championship, which he won in wire-to-wire fashion. He was T3 heading into the final round of last season’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and was T20 through 54 holes when he won the 2012 Travelers Championship.

Miscellaneous Notes

At the first official PGA TOUR event to be held in Korea, Whee Kim ranks highest of the 16 Korean players in the field at 6-under-par for the tournament and is T5, three shots off the lead as he searches for a first PGA TOUR victory. Kim has enjoyed a nice start to the season including a hole-in-one in the third round of last week’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia with a new car as the prize. It was Kim’s first hole-in-one of his career during tournament play.

Korean Players in the field

Place       Name                      Score

T5             Whee KIM               -6

T8             Byeong Hun AN      -5

T34           K.T. KIM                  +2

T34           Jinho CHOI              +2

T34           Seung-Yul NOH       +2

T39           Si Woo KIM             +3

T42           Young-han SONG   +4

T46           Jung-gon HWANG   +5

T52           Kyoung-Hoon LEE  +6

T52           Sung KANG            +6

T56           Sangmoon BAE      +7

T61           Hyungjoon LEE       +8

T61           Seunghyuk KIM       +8

T65           K.J. CHOI                +9

T67           Jeunghun WANG    +11

71             Junghwan LEE        +12

77             a-Gyu Min LEE        +28

Last week’s CIMB Classic winner, Pat Perez, is at 1-under-par, at T24 for the tournament.

CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and the FedExCup                                                             

CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES is a 72-hole stroke play event combining players from two official sanctioning bodies – the PGA TOUR and the Korean PGA. The inaugural event brings an official PGA TOUR event to Korea for the first time in history and brings together top players from the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup standings, top players from the Korean PGA and from the Asian Tour Order of Merit. The tournament is held at Nine Bridges Golf Club on Jeju Island. PGA TOUR members receive official FedExCup points as part of the 2017-2018 PGA TOUR season.

The CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES is the third event of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season and is part of eight events during the fall of 2017, all of which will award FedExCup points. After a seven-week break, the season will resume in January with the traditional swing through Hawaii before moving to the West Coast. The FedExCup Playoffs once again features four events and concludes in September with the TOUR Championship and the crowning of the FedExCup champion.

In addition to 500 FedExCup points and a two-year PGA TOUR exemption, the winner this week (if not previously eligible) receives invitations to the 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions, a winners-only event in January, along with two major championships (Masters Tournament and PGA Championship) and THE PLAYERS Championship. The player would also earn exemptions into six additional invitational events on the PGA TOUR.

Every week is significant in the race for the FedExCup – three of the seven winners from the fall calendar of 2016 (Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama and Pat Perez) qualified for the TOUR Championship. The other four winners advanced through at least the second of four Playoffs events (Brendan Steele, Cody Gribble, Rod Pampling and Mackenzie Hughes).

Earlier this year in May, FedEx extended its contract as sponsor of the FedExCup by 10 years through 2027.

Par-3 hole-in-one event – bibigo! Chef-go!

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! Prize valued at 50,000 USD

Bogey-free rounds:

R1: Chez Reave (66), Charles Howell III (67)

R2: Seung-Yul Noh (65), Luke List (67)

R3: None

Scoring Averages at the par-72 NINE BRIDGES Golf Club:?            Front 9           Back 9              Total                Cumulative

R1:       35.500            35.448              70.948

R2:       36.770            36.576              73.346             72.146

R3        37.872            36.923              74.795             73.023

PICTURE COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

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