2026 THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson pool picks: build around the obvious anchor

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson is the PGA TOUR stop in McKinney, Texas, this week, with TPC Craig Ranch hosting from May 21-24. The tournament traces back through the Byron Nelson event history, and the PGA TOUR past-results page lists Scottie Scheffler, Taylor Pendrith, and Jason Day as the last three winners.

TPC Craig Ranch is listed by the PGA TOUR as a par 71 at 7,385 yards for this event. Public course history lists the club as established in 2004 and designed by Tom Weiskopf. That matters for pool picks because this has not been playing like a survival test. Scheffler won here at 31 under last year, Pendrith won at 23 under in 2024, and Jason Day also won at 23 under in 2023. You still need made cuts, but you also need enough birdie-makers to keep up.

Scottie Scheffler is the easy starting point. The PGA TOUR field page has him in the field and No. 1 in OWGR, Data Golf has him No. 1 in its field ranking, and the PGA TOUR past-results page shows him as the 2025 winner at this tournament. In a 12-pick pool, fading that profile just to be different is usually overthinking it.

Si Woo Kim is the next clean core name for me. Data Golf lists him 13th in its field ranking and the PGA TOUR field page has him 24th in OWGR among this field. He also has useful tournament-history notes in Data Golf’s field update, including a T2 and multiple top-15 finishes. That gives hosts and entrants a name who is not just riding reputation.

Jordan Spieth is more emotional for a Texas crowd, but the data is good enough to keep him in the core bucket. Data Golf lists prior Byron Nelson results that include a runner-up, a fourth, and a ninth. The missed cuts in that same history are the reminder: he belongs in a balanced build, not as your only non-Scheffler anchor.

Max Greyserman is a practical upside piece. He is 63rd in OWGR on the PGA TOUR field page and 89th in the Data Golf field ranking, so this is not a blind dart. I would rather use him after two safer names than ask him to carry the entry.

Rasmus Højgaard is similar. The PGA TOUR field has him in with a 67 OWGR mark, and Data Golf has him 81st in its field ranking. He is a better pick if your pool will duplicate the obvious Scheffler-Spieth builds and you need one name that still has a real ranking floor.

Michael Thorbjornsen is a good separator if your pool is large. The PGA TOUR field page lists him 70th in OWGR, and Data Golf has him 84th in the field. That is enough to consider him as a third- or fourth-layer pick, not enough to skip safer names above him.

Keith Mitchell is the veteran profile I would keep on the short list. Data Golf has him 60th in its field ranking, higher than several better-known names in this field. He makes sense when you want one golfer who can move up a birdie-friendly board without turning the entry into a full gamble.

Taylor Pendrith is the defending 2024 winner and that matters, but Data Golf’s tournament-history row also shows a cut in his other listed start. I would not auto-pick him just because the previous-champion badge looks good. He is fine as a pool-size call, not a must-use core piece.

Brooks Koepka is always tempting because the ceiling is obvious, and the PGA TOUR field page has him in. The problem is that Data Golf ranks him 75th in this field and his OWGR is 111 on the PGA TOUR field page. I would use him only if your pool rewards differentiation and your entry already has enough safer weekend scorers.

Tony Finau and Tom Kim are name-value checks. Data Golf has Finau 150th and Tom Kim 109th in its field ranking, while the PGA TOUR field page lists both outside the top 100 in OWGR. Either one can beat that number, but I would not let familiar names crowd out stronger current field profiles.

Matti Schmid, Sungjae Im, and Wyndham Clark are not automatic avoids, but the recent-result rows on Data Golf carry enough cut or low-finish notes that I would be careful. In Golf Pools Pro scoring, one OB-style missed-cut result can undo a lot of steady picks.

For a 12-pick Golf Pools Pro entry, I would start with Scheffler, then add two or three of Si Woo Kim, Jordan Spieth, Keith Mitchell, Max Greyserman, and Rasmus Højgaard. That gives the entry a real scoring base without making every card look identical.

From there, use two or three upside slots on players like Michael Thorbjornsen, Taylor Pendrith, or Brooks Koepka if your pool is big enough to need separation. Keep one or two boring depth choices for late field changes or duplicated cards. This is a birdie event, but a card full of cut-risk names still loses fast.