Congaree Golf Club Ridgeland, SC

The year’s first Tour event with real “star power” begins at the CJ Cup in South Carolina on Thursday. Fifteen of the top twenty players in the official world golf ranking will tee it up at the Congaree golf club, many for the first time.

Who should win? – Rory McIlroy 7/1

Since Rory’s Tour Championship and FedEx Cup win, he has continued his excellent form with three strong finishes (T2, 4, T4) on the European Tour. While Scottie Scheffler dominated the Tour most of last season, Rory was not far behind and in the end, was the only player to make Scheffler blink.

Who could win? – Jon Rahm 9/1, Scottie Scheffler 11/1, Justin Thomas 14/1

I am not going too far out on a limb on this one as these players are the three betting favourites after McIlroy. I would be remiss if I didn’t give honourable mention to Max Homa and Tom Kim, who are both at 28/1 odds. Homa is finally at the stage of his career where he feels he can compete against the Tour’s top dogs. Kim is young, confident, and a bit cocky. He will continue to be someone to watch this season and he should contend this week.

Longer shots to consider – Tom Hoge 50/1, Taylor Montgomery 55/1

Both these players have become top-ten machines of late and could surprise this weekend.

Who will win? – Scottie Scheffler

It’s been a while since a Tour player not named Tiger Woods has put together successive “great” seasons. I am betting that Scheffler will maintain his number-one ranking this year and no better place to start than his first event of the season.

Odds courtesy of bet365.com