Horse For The Course: PGA DFS Course History - 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

May 18, 2026

Todd McGill's DraftKings, FanDuel PGA DFS picks for the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch. Picks for daily fantasy golf based on course history.

It was quite the drama-filled week at Aronimink for the 108th PGA Championship. After one of the most bunched leaderboards in major championship history, Aaron Rai went -6 under through the final 10 holes to claim his first career major title. The course certainly proved more challenging than many players and pundits had planned for after the few practice days leading into Thursday's opening round.

If there was any case to be made for making a shorter venue play difficult enough to make par a premium score, Aronimink certainly tried. The setup negated ball-striking separation that usually happens at one of golf's biggest tournaments, making the green complexes and navigating the crazy slopes the ultimate point of emphasis.

Up next is a course that has neither the bark nor the bite of last week. TPC Craig Ranch has been the host site of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson—one of the most historic events on the PGA Tour—since 2021. It's been decimated over the last five seasons, which is why they went through some major renovations after last year's event to hopefully curb scoring some. However, the established course history should still have some weight in DFS consideration this week.

Horse For The Course is an article highlighting players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For some of the favorite DFS plays of the week, check out the Core Four article written by my buddy, Joe Nicely, here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using the Promo Code TDG for an extra 30% discount at checkout!

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

The event named in honor of the late Byron Nelson has been one of the longest-running events on the PGA Tour. While it now finds itself in a weird place in the schedule following a major championship, players have continued to show support for the Dallas-centric event, especially players from the Lone Star State.

Even with the stress of last week, guys like Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth have made the trip to support the hometown event. It will also be the next PGA Tour start for Blades Brown, who is currently inside the top-10 on the Korn Ferry Tour Money List.

Low scoring has been the identity of this tournament year in and year out. Scottie Scheffler reached -31 under last year to win, which was the lowest four-day total in tournament history. It will be interesting to see how the course renovation affects things in the tournament's 100th playing

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TPC Craig Ranch

Par 71 - 7,385 | Greens: Creeping Bentgrass | Designed By: Tom Weiskopf

The recipe this week figures to be much like what many expected at Aronimink: long drives and putting. However, the green complexes here at TPC Craig Ranch aren't even comparable to the treacherous slopes last week. Winners of this event historically average over half a stroke per round with the flat stick.

The recent work done by Lanny Wadkins will hopefully be enough to affect players lighting things up, as a few holes have been lengthened, and some have been restructured to introduce new bunkering and bring water more into play. The lack of length will still be a concern from a scoring perspective, but as we saw this past week, there are other ways to make scoring more challenging.

The most success will be found from aggressive play and making as many birdies as possible. Proximity to the hole from 175-225 yards is crucial into some of the largest greens on the PGA Tour, but this is ultimately a bomb-and-gouge test that calls for players to throw caution to the wind and see how low they can go every day.

Recent CJ Cup Byron Nelson Winners

• 2025: Scottie Scheffler (-31)
• 2024: Taylor Pendrith (-23)
• 2023: Jason Day (-23)
• 2022: K.H. Lee (-26)
• 2021: K.H. Lee (-25)

The Horse

Scottie Scheffler

Notable Finishes: 1st ('25), T5 ('23)

Outside of the fact that he isn't coming into the week coming off a major championship victory, things feel similar with Scottie Scheffler this week as they did this time last year. He's undoubtedly the top dog in the field, and no one should be surprised if he takes an early lead like he did at Aronimink and never looks back. Last year was really a contest for second place, and this time around has a chance for a similar outcome.

There has been an undeniable consistency issue for the 29-year-old this season that has kept him from producing the number of wins we expect every time he finds himself in the mix. The latest fall-off has been on and around the green, as he has only managed to break even from a strokes-gained perspective in those areas over his last two starts. Nonetheless, he's still the smash play he usually is.

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The Ponies

Jordan Spieth

Notable Finishes: 2nd ('22) 4th ('25)

Jordan Spieth sees shots other players don’t. 🎨⛳️

Round 3 is underway as he continues his chase for the career Grand Slam.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/tu2Kq6VUYm

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 16, 2026

As someone who's made this event a regular stop on his schedule each year, it's surprising that Jordan Spieth has not managed to capture a victory. He's been close many times, and perhaps more so since the event moved to TPC Craig Ranch. Ball striking always seems to show up well for him around this property, but the putter has failed to be as beneficial.

The 32-year-old has turned in three finishes on the first page of the leaderboard of the four tournaments played since moving to this golf course, but his best strokes gained putting output of the week has only been a measly 0.38. Putting has been the biggest liability in 2026, and he'll need a turnaround to keep his solid showings in this event going.

Si Woo Kim

Notable Finishes: T2 ('23), T13 ('24), T15 ('25)

"Are you guys besties?"

"We're not friends."

NEVER a dull moment between Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim. pic.twitter.com/eOAdMMqDGC

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 18, 2026

Not the prototypical name to see flourish at an event that is begging players to hit a driver as far and as solidly as possible, Si Woo Kim has had a solid run here over the last few years. He's been chasing the kind of week that saw him nearly win this thing in 2023, but he's failed to gain strokes putting enough to really find his way into the hunt.

The South Korean is coming off two poor weeks, as the ball striking hasn't been as on par as we've come to expect from him. He cuts his teeth on dominant long iron play, which is still performing at a high level. However, he'll need the putter to cooperate a little more if he hopes to be a factor come Thursday.

Stephan Jaeger

Notable Finishes: T11 ('23), T20 ('24)

😱🤯⛳️ #WILD — Stephan Jaeger just became the first player in 15 years to get a par on all 18 holes in a round at the PGA Championship pic.twitter.com/mMCIhcv0S0

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 15, 2026

Things were looking good for Stephan Jaeger through the first two days last week at Aronimink, but a third-round 73 effectively took him out of any hopes over the final 36 holes. He'll now come to a place this week that rewards his long nature and prowess with the flat stick, and somewhere he has consistently made the weekend despite only gaining shots on approach once since moving venues.

He'll get another chance come Thursday, and can hopefully draw on the good vibes that had him in contention at Aronimink through two rounds. In a week like this, where everyone is picking the most similar of profiles, Jaeger presents a decent diversity option for what's sure to be a week with very condensed ownership.

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