The CJ CUP Byron Nelson 2026 Betting Tips: Six to stop Scottie in Texas

Following Aaron Rai’s sensational final-round display at the PGA Championship to win his first major title, attention now returns to the PGA Tour, where world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will defend his CJ CUP Byron Nelson title at TPC Craig Ranch this week.

Our golf tipster Jamie Worsley is back with six more each-way picks this week, so let's check out his CJ CUP Byron Nelson 2026 Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights...

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At the end of a chaotic week at Aronimink Golf Club, it was the calm and collected Aaron Rai that finally broke through on Sunday to claim a maiden major victory at the PGA Championship.

The brutal nature of the huge green complexes, combined with the lack of penalty for a missed fairway, made it difficult for anyone to separate themselves from the field throughout the week. This left us with 30 players entering the final round within five of the lead and for much of Sunday’s front nine, it still felt completely impossible to call the winner.

Amid all of this congestion at the top of the leaderboard, where power hitters were in high supply, it was the precision and patience of Rai that stood out. He plotted his way around the course instead, producing a scintillating final 10 holes – eagling the par-5 9^th and making four further birdies on the back nine, including holing a monster 70ft putt on the par-3 17^th – to pull away and ultimately cruise to an impressive three-shot victory.

Hailing from humble beginnings in Wolverhampton, Rai becomes only the second Englishman to win this title, ending an over 100-year wait since Jim Barnes claimed the first two renewals in 1916 and 1919.

Not just a talented player but as attested to by many of his peers since this landmark victory, he is simply one of the most hardworking, pleasant and likeable players on tour, making him a hugely popular champion.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson debuted on the PGA Tour in 1944 (then called the Texas Victory Open) and is always held in and around the Dallas area. It returns once again to TPC Craig Ranch, which took up hosting duties of the tournament in 2021.

Local hero Byron Nelson won that inaugural 1944 edition, and since 1968, the event has borne the five-time major champion’s name.

Tom Watson is the most successful player in the tournament’s history, winning on four occasions (1975, 1978, 1979, 1980). Sam Snead comes next on three wins (1945, 1957, 1958) and there have been five two-time winners: Jack Nicklaus (1970, 1971), Bruce Lietzke (1981, 1988), Sergio Garcia (2004, 2016), K.H. Lee (2021, 2022) and Jason Day (2010, 2023).

Last five winners:

• 2025

Winner: Scottie Scheffler (-31)

Runner-up: Erik Van Rooyen (-23)

• 2024

Winner: Taylor Pendrith (-23)

Runner-up: Ben Kohles (-22)

• 2023

Winner: Jason Day (-23)

Runners-up: Austin Eckroat, Si Woo Kim (-22)

• 2022

Winner: K.H. Lee (-26)

Runner-up: Jordan Spieth (-25)

• 2021

Winner: K.H. Lee (-25)

Runner-up Sam Burns (-22)

Scottie Scheffler produced a sensational display to win this event in 2025, shooting 31-under-par for an eight-shot victory that tied the lowest 72-hole score (total strokes - 253) on the PGA Tour. He returns to defend this week and will be a man on a mission after enduring a frustrating PGA Championship.

THE COURSE

TPC Craig Ranch

• Original architect / Year opened: Tom Weiskopf / 2004
• Latest renovation: The course underwent a multi-million-dollar redesign led by Lanny Wadkins last year, with the aim of creating a more demanding test for the players. They reshaped the greens and reduced them in size, introduced tighter, more strategic bunkering, new turf varieties, and upgraded drainage and irrigation systems.
• Par / Yardage: Par 71 / 7,385 yards (down from 7,569 yards in 2025)
• Hole breakdown:
  • 4x par 3s (135-230 yards)
  • 11x par 4s (320-500 yards)
  • 3x par 5s (540-640 yards)
• Course style: Gently-rolling parkland course that is tree-lined yet spacious
• Fairways:
  • The zoysia fairways have been narrowed in recent years, but the lack of severe doglegs means they’re fairly straightforward
  • That said, the tightened landing areas and thicker rough (3.25 inches long) did create a tougher, more penal driving test in 2025 – the driving accuracy percentage of 55.75% was five percent lower than the prior three seasons
  • With further strategic changes made to bunker positioning, it’s reasonable to expect those difficulties to be heightened this week
• Greens:
  • The bentgrass greens were large (6,778 sq. ft.) but have been made smaller this year
  • These reworked putting surfaces feature trickier pin positions, while bunkers now hug them more closely
  • Previously ranking among the easiest courses on tour in putting, around-the-greens, and approach difficulty, it will be interesting to see how these changes impact the challenge
• Defences:
  • Water is the primary defence at the venue, with the snaking Rowlett Creek and several ponds coming into play on 13 holes in total
• Average winning score: -25.6 (five editions)

That average winning score across the last five years tells you everything you need to know about why TPC Craig Ranch was crying out for this renovation. However, many of the holes are still relatively the same in look and strategy. It remains to be seen quite how much the alterations will affect the scoring conditions and overall demands presented to the field.

THE WEATHER

There is over 45mm of rain predicted to fall in the three days leading into the event, which will result in an ultra-soft golf course and preferred lies could be in play. With thunderstorms likely to persist throughout the week, there is a real threat of a stop-start weather-shortened contest.

KEY STATS

SG: Approach / Greens-in-Regulation (GIR) / Proximity from 150 yards+

This is a course at which quality iron play has been important and with these smaller, better protected greens set to be extremely receptive, it should be extra vital this week. Furthermore, it’s a place where the wedges carry little weight, instead requiring players to lean on their mid-to-long irons.

Although I’m not putting too much significance on stats from previous editions due to the renovation, some of these changes were already in place for the 2025 edition. Therefore, I’m happy to look at how players performed 12 months ago.

• 2025
  • Scottie Scheffler (Winner): 1^st in SG: Approach / 3^rd in GIR
  • Erik Van Rooyen (2^nd): 3^rd in SG: Approach
  • Jordan Spieth (4^th): 5^th in SG: Approach / 7^th in GIR

SG: Off-the-Tee and/or Driving Accuracy

The increase in difficulty and punishment off the tee puts greater emphasis on accuracy, especially on a week where the rough will be particularly soggy. There was plenty of evidence of this in 2025.

• 2025
  • Scottie Scheffler (Winner): 3^rd in SG: OTT / 4^th in driving accuracy
  • Erik Van Rooyen (2^nd): 10^th in SG: OTT / 12^th in driving accuracy
  • Jordan Spieth (4^th): 7^th in SG: OTT

SG: Putting (bentgrass)

Birdie-or-Better %

Finally, regardless of how the demands of this layout may have been hardened, that defence is weakened when it is likely to play so soft. I would again expect scoring to be low, with proven bentgrass putters worth siding with.

• 2025
  • Scottie Scheffler (Winner): 6^th in SG: Putting
  • Sam Stevens (3^rd): 3^rd in SG: Putting

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

Phoenix Open (TPC Scottsdale)

TPC Scottsdale is another Tom Weiskopf original that has tonnes of comp form with TPC Craig Ranch. With the changes made to the fairways here, these two venues ranked very similarly in driving difficulty last year and I’d expect this trend to continue.

Notable correlating form:

• H. Lee: Byron Nelson (1^st, 1^st) / Phoenix (2^nd)
• Jason Day: Byron Nelson (1^st) / Phoenix (5^th)
• Sam Burns: Byron Nelson (2^nd, 5^th) / Phoenix (3^rd, 6^th)
• Si Woo Kim: Byron Nelson (2^nd) / Phoenix (3^rd)
• Hideki Matsuyama: Byron Nelson (3^rd) / Phoenix (1^st, 1^st, 2^nd, 2^nd)
• Daniel Berger: Byron Nelson (3^rd) / Phoenix (2^nd)
• Alex Noren: Byron Nelson (3^rd) / Phoenix (6^th)
• Jordan Spieth: Byron Nelson (2^nd, 4^th) / Phoenix (4^th, 4^th, 6^th, 6^th)
• Byeong Hun An: Byron Nelson (4^th) / Phoenix (6^th, 9^th)
• Ryan Palmer: Byron Nelson (5^th, 8^th) / Phoenix (2^nd, 2^nd)
• Kurt Kitayama: Byron Nelson (5^th) / Phoenix (8^th)
• Mark Hubbard: Byron Nelson (5^th) / Phoenix (9^th)

3M Open (TPC Twin Cities)

Whilst the fairways at this week’s host are now more difficult to find, I still think the layout is closely-matched with TPC Twin Cities. It’s another course with tonnes of water in play, bentgrass greens, and it requires players to be dialled in with the mid-to-long irons.

Notable correlating form:

• Taylor Pendrith: Byron Nelson (1^st) / 3M Open (5^th)
• H. Lee: Byron Nelson (1^st, 1^st) / 3M Open (6^th, 9^th)
• Charl Schwartzel: Byron Nelson (3^rd) / 3M Open (2^nd, 3^rd)
• Sam Stevens: Byron Nelson (3^rd) / 3M Open (2^nd)
• Alex Noren: Byron Nelson (3^rd) / 3M Open (3^rd, 7^th)
• Matt Wallace: Byron Nelson (4^th) / 3M Open (3^rd)
• Kurt Kitayama: Byron Nelson (5^th) / 3M Open (1^st)
• Takumi Kanaya: Byron Nelson (5^th) / 3M Open (7^th)
• Jhonattan Vegas: Byron Nelson (9^th, 13^th) / 3M Open (1^st, 2^nd)

Puerto Rico Open (Grand Reserve Country Club)

My third and final pick is Puerto Rico Open host Grand Reserve Country Club. This spacious venue has average-width fairways that shared similar driving accuracy numbers to TPC Craig Ranch in 2025. Water features are a primary danger and measuring in at over 7,500 yards, approaches from 150 yards+ are frequent.

Notable correlating form:

• Jordan Spieth: Byron Nelson (2^nd, 4^th) / Puerto Rico (2^nd)
• Ben Kohles: Byron Nelson (2^nd) / Puerto Rico (6^th)
• Daniel Berger: Byron Nelson (3^rd) / Puerto Rico (2^nd)
• Ricky Castillo: Byron Nelson (5^th) / Puerto Rico (1^st)
• Joseph Bramlett: Byron Nelson (7^th) / Puerto Rico (3^rd)
• Jhonattan Vegas: Byron Nelson (9^th, 13^th) / Puerto Rico (2^nd)
• Rafael Campos: Byron Nelson (9^th) / Puerto Rico (3^rd)

THE FIELD

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the reigning champion this week. With PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai deciding to take a well-earned break, No. 24 Si Woo Kim is the only other member of the world’s top 25 in attendance.

Alongside Scheffler we have a further four previous winners teeing it up in Texas: Taylor Pendrith (2024), K.H. Lee (2022, 2021), Aaron Wise (2018) and Billy Horschel (2017).

Multiple major winners Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth add a little more star power to the field. Meanwhile, the 2025 recipient of the Byron Nelson Collegiate Award, former No. 11 amateur Jackson Buchanan, earns a spot at TPC Craig Ranch.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders (1/4 5 places): Scottie Scheffler 9/5, Si Woo Kim 12/1, Jordan Spieth 16/1, Brooks Koepka 20/1, Keith Mitchell 33/1

Scottie Scheffler is, of course, the player everyone has to beat here. However, his game hasn’t quite reached the heights of the past two seasons, and with the potential for draw biases due to that unpredictable weather forecast, he’s worth taking on.

Check out the full CJ CUP Byron Nelson Odds here

1.25 pts Ryo Hisatsune each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 35/1

Rated as the fourth-best player in this field by Data Golf in 2026, Ryo Hisatsune is my first selection. He arrested a temporary slip in form with a 35^th-place finish at last week’s PGA Championship and, as an elite, precise ball striker who makes birdies for fun, he looks value to shed that PGA Tour maiden tag in Texas.

Having made all bar one cut this season and picking up four top-10s, Hisatsune is one of the tour’s most improved players. His standout result came when a distant 2^nd to Justin Rose at the Farmers Insurance Open and just five starts ago he was 8^th at the Texas Open.

The Japanese youngster made his third straight PGA Championship cut at Aronimink, where he finished in a tidy 35^th place. It was a display engineered by his top-class long game, ranking 8^th in SG: Ball Striking.

It’s in this area that he’s impressed most season long, ranking 5^th among this group in SG: Approach. He’s 12^th in SG: OTT – gaining not just length but also greater accuracy – and as a generally solid putter, it’s no surprise to see him rank 18^th on tour in birdie-or-better %.

After making a slow start on his TPC Craig Ranch debut in 2024, Hisatsune rattled home with rounds of 65, 68 and 64 to finish 13^th.  With several of his best performances at this level coming in Texas – including finishes of 5^th and 8^th at the Texas Open and 6^th at the Charles Schwab Challenge – I’m happy to treat last year’s missed cut as a minor blip and expect him to put things right this week.

1.25 pts Davis Thompson each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 40/1

Davis Thompson has played some of his best golf of the campaign across his previous three appearances, which has resulted in three top-20 finishes. He’s hit the ball well all season, and with the putter finally starting to warm up, he can become a two-time PGA Tour winner at TPC Craig Ranch.

Thompson recorded just the one top-40 over the first three months of the year, but that did come courtesy of a 4^th-place finish at the Puerto Rico Open. He was 14^th at the Texas Open three starts ago, before playing a starring role as he and Austin Eckroat finished 6^th at the Zurich Classic.

He arrives here after a finish of 13^th at the Myrtle Beach Classic two weeks ago, where he struck the ball beautifully, ranking 2^nd in GIR, 6^th in SG: Ball Striking, 11^th in SG: Approach and 14^th in SG: OTT.

It’s that iron play that has been most striking throughout 2026, ranking 6^th in this field in SG: Approach and 15^th in GIR overall. He’s gained strokes with the putter in three of his last five outings, having begun the year without a positive display in his first six, and with the driver as reliable as ever – sitting above average in both accuracy and length – he’s primed to contend.

Finishing 70^th in 2023 and missing the cut in 2024, Thompson is yet to catch fire in this event. That said, his 4^th in Puerto Rico in March is a handy piece of form and now that the putter is behaving, he has every chance to better that.

1 pt Austin Eckroat each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 50/1

Austin Eckroat’s game has taken a noticeable step forward over the past six weeks. He’s a two-time tour winner who has finished runner-up at TPC Craig Ranch and, striking his irons better than ever this season, he is well worth siding with.

Missing four cuts and failing to crack the top 40 over his first seven appearances, Eckroat’s results at the beginning of the season left little to be desired. He did show life at the Houston Open four starts ago and has kicked on from there, backing it up with consecutive finishes of 10^th at the Texas Open, 6^th at the Zurich Classic (alongside Davis Thompson) and 19^th at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

His iron play has been the shining light within his game in 2026, ranking 7^th in this field in SG: Approach. He’s particularly shone in the important 150-200-yard range, ranking 2^nd from 150-175 and 33^rd from 175-200. I was also encouraged to see him drive it straight over the final three rounds at Myrtle Beach after a wayward opener. He ranks 34^th on the PGA Tour in birdie-or-better %, and with three positive strokes-gained performances on the greens in four events, he’s well placed to challenge.

Eckroat was the joint 54-hole leader at TPC Craig Ranch on debut three years ago before eventually finishing as a narrow runner-up to Jason Day. Although he missed the cut on his return last year, his game is much sharper this time and he looks far more likely to replicate that 2023 effort.

1 pt Michael Brennan each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 60/1

After bursting onto the scene with a victory at the Bank of Utah Championship towards the end of 2025, Michael Brennan has established himself as one of the very best drivers around. That hasn’t immediately translated to further success in his first full season on the PGA Tour, though as another player who has found something on the greens recently, he looks ready to strike.

Turning pro in 2024 after a stellar amateur career that took him to No. 9 in the standings, Brennan’s win in Utah followed three victories on the PGA Tour Americas in the two months prior. What made that composed four-shot win all the more impressive was that it was his first professional start on the PGA Tour.

Unfortunately, a breakthrough like that comes with heightened expectations and, picking up just one top-40 in eight starts, it’s fair to say he didn’t handle that in the opening months of the 2026 season.

His game has seen a turnaround since finishing 28^th at the Houston Open, as he then went on to finish 24^th on his Masters debut. While he was 81^st of the 82 players to make the cut at Aronimink, it was a positive to see him again drive the ball supremely well.

Not only is Brennan the third-longest hitter on tour but, complementing that with an adequate 56^th in driving accuracy, he ranks 2^nd in SG: OTT. That should enable him to attack this layout as aggressively as anyone and, as a top-50 approach performer (in this field) who has produced his two best putting displays of the season over the last five events, everything looks to be coming together at the perfect time.

1 pt Jhonattan Vegas each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 100/1

Arriving after his strongest tee-to-green performance of the season at the PGA Championship, Jhonattan Vegas holds plenty of appeal. He’s got a decent record at TPC Craig Ranch and, with a fine collection of comp form to boot, he can contend for a fifth PGA Tour win in Texas.

Vegas has failed to find any real consistency this year but there have been positives. He’s had two top-20s – a 14^th-place finish at the Houston Open and 18^th-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – and made the cut on his first major appearance of the campaign, finishing 44^th at Aronimink.

He was superb there from tee-to-green, ranking 2^nd. This was aided in particular by his high-class iron play, ranking 2^nd in GIR and 4^th in SG: Approach. He’s delivering more accurate driving displays in general this year and though the putter is a concern, he did rank 10^th on the bentgrass greens here in 2025.

That helped Vegas to a 13^th-place finish, which didn’t quite match the result he achieved at TPC Craig Ranch in 2021, finishing 9^th. His most recent tour win came in the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in 2024 – a place where he was 2^nd in 2021 – and, having also sat in the runner-up spot in Puerto Rico, the Texas resident is well suited to this layout.

0.75 pts Chandler Blanchet each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 125/1

I’m going to take a chance on rookie Chandler Blanchet as my final selection. He’s hitting the ball strongly at present, and with his runner-up finish in Puerto Rico earlier in the year offering an encouraging piece of comp form, he can outplay these three-figure odds.

Blanchet earned his first stab at the PGA Tour after an excellent season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025, where he won twice and recorded 14 top-25s to finish 2^nd on the season-long standings.

He found the going tough at this level initially, missing each of his first five cuts, but he came good with a bang at the Puerto Rico Open, finishing 2^nd. His results have been much more consistent since, and he comes into this week after a 44^th-place finish on just his second major appearance at the PGA Championship.

Ranking 1^st in driving accuracy and 20^th in GIR, his long game was key at Aronimink. This has been reflected in his more consistent form, ranking 10^th in driving accuracy, 17^th in SG: Approach and 32^nd in SG: OTT in this field over the previous five weeks. Meanwhile, the putter has also started to behave, gaining strokes in six of his last nine starts on the greens.

With three wins on the PGA Tour Americas and two on the Korn Ferry Tour, Blanchet has been a reasonably prolific winner throughout his pro career. I’m confident he can transfer that ability to this level, and with this year’s performance in Puerto Rico boding well, TPC Craig Ranch could just be an ideal fit.