Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the CJ Cup was moved from South Korea to the United States…read moreand held at Shadow Creek Golf Course in North Las Vegas. It wrapped up this past Sunday with Jason Kokrak winning his first-ever PGA Tour event. Since its inception in 2017, the Club at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island has been home to the CJ Cup with big names Justin Thomas (2017, 2019) and Brooks Koepka (2018) as the cup's first champions. Relative unknown Kokrak bucked that trend by beating Xander Schauffele, who I was rooting for, by two strokes. Kokrak finished at -20 (70, 66, 68, 64 | 268) and Schauffele -18 (66, 64, 74, 66 | 270).
Aside from being moved to the States, this tournament was interesting for a couple reasons: (1) It showcased Shadow Creek, an amazing public* course that had never held a PGA Tour event before. (2) As MGM Resorts International owns the course, BetMGM was all over Golf Channel's TV coverage of the event which included live odds throughout the tournament. *A round at Shadow Creek, like Pebble Beach and other high-end courses, requires a hotel stay; in this case, at a qualifying MGM property. Also, according to Golf Digest, a tee time will set you back $600: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/shadow-creek-how-to-play-the-exclusive-venue-where-tiger-woods-and-phil-mickelson-will-play-the-match.
Shadow Creek was designed by the famed Tom Fazio and opened in 1990 as Steve Wynn's personal private course. It's a true oasis in the Nevada desert and anything but natural - just take a look at the Google Earth satellite view: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shadow+Creek+Golf+Course/@36.2579796,-115.1162291,3567m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xf15ab69d1f0ef012!8m2!3d36.2584295!4d-115.1073027. Shadow Creek looked as finely manicured as Augusta. Rory McIlroy said the course's greens were the best he's ever putted on. High praise. It was a beauty to look at. The course's many (unnatural) trees cast long shadows in the mid-to-late-October sun.
The only other time Shadow Creek was featured on TV was on Black Friday 2018 for The Match: Tiger vs. Phil (at first, pay-per-view, but eventually distributed for free due to technical difficulties).
The CJ Cup's title sponsor is the CJ Group, a Korean conglomerate that owns brands recognizable in America like Bibigo (packaged food) and Tous Les Jours (bakery chain). K-pop fans are probably familiar with Mnet (K-pop TV channel) and the Stone Music Entertainment label, both of which are ultimately owned by the CJ Group. Korak's 2020 CJ Cup championship trophy looks like a modern stone tablet with Korean inscribed vertically.
Wednesday before the event, MGM Resorts sponsored a nine-hole charity match between Kevin Na and Byeong-hun (Ben) An (both of Korean descent) vs. two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler. Watson and Fowler won, but not before Na could snap a selfie before the foursome left the par-3 17th's tee box: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGWI9OvA24F/. In that moment, Na reminded me of me. :)