PGA Tour The CJ Cup "Held in the US Again This Year"

Considering COVID-19 Variants and Uncertainty in Quarantine Guideline Changes, South Carolina's Kongari Golf Club Decision

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] The PGA Tour's The CJ Cup will be held in the United States again this year.

The title sponsor CJ announced on the 29th (Korean time) that "the 2022 tournament is scheduled to take place on October 20th at Congaree Golf Club in Gillisonville, South Carolina, USA (photo)." Established in 2017, the event was held for three years at Jeju's Nine Bridges Golf Club, but in 2020 and last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Last year, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) claimed the title and is the defending champion.

"Although the recent COVID-19 situation has calmed down, uncertainties such as the emergence of variants and potential changes in quarantine guidelines have led to postponing the return to Korea," the statement explained. This decision also considered the case of Im Sung-jae (24, CJ Logistics), who returned to Korea in May to participate in the Korean Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Woori Financial Championship but tested positive for COVID-19, disrupting his PGA Tour schedule. World stars may be reluctant to come to Korea if they must undergo a COVID-19 test and then quarantine for seven days upon testing positive.

The CJ Cup's battleground, Congaree Golf Club, is a newly established course that opened in 2018. It is interesting that Tom Fazio, who has designed numerous tournament courses, promotes it as one of his representative hot spots. In fact, it was ranked 39th among the "Top 100 Golf Courses in the United States" last year. During the PGA Tour Palmetto Championship in June last year, Garrick Higgo (South Africa) won with a total score of 11 under par 273 over four rounds, indicating the course's relatively high difficulty.