2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson Tournament Preview

The PGA Tour returns to individual stroke play this week with the CJ Cup honoring Byron Nelson. For the fifth consecutive year, this event will be held at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. Quite simply, the PGA Tour has now soft admitted on multiple occasions that this is not a golf course of high enough quality to host a PGA Tour event. After playing as one of the five easiest golf courses on the schedule in 2021 and 2022, the par was changed to 71 instead of 72, in an effort to curb scoring. The outcome was negligible, and the course actually played easier in 2024 as a par 71 than it did in 2021 as a par 72. More changes have already been initiated at TPC Craig Ranch, as Lanny Wadkins has been granted 15 million to complete an extensive renovation of the original 2004 Tom Weiskopf design. The renovation will not be completed until after next summer, but we will see a number of new tee boxes in play this year at the Bunny Ranch. I’m cautiously optimistic that the added length will add to the difficulty of the course, but until we see a scoring average below -2 per round, it’s still the Bunny Ranch to me.