Following the PGA Championship, the next stop on the PGA Tour calendar is the CJ CUP Byron Nelson. The event is being held at TPC Craig Ranch for the sixth straight year.

This is a look at the best first-round leader bets to make for the event on DraftKings Sportsbook.

CJ CUP Byron Nelson: First Round Leader Picks

The CJ CUP Byron Nelson has never been an event with a stellar field. That is even more obvious this year. The event falls in the middle of a loaded stretch with two majors and two signature events in the six weeks surrounding it. Following the PGA Championship and with the Memorial two weeks out, this is a week that many of the TOUR’s top players will choose to sit out. One person who won’t, however, is the defending champion, Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler will be the heavy favorite to win at TPC Craig Ranch once again. Si Woo Kim, the No. 22 player in the world, is the second-highest-ranked player in the field.

TPC Craig Ranch is a par-71 course that ranges 7,385 yards. This is a full-field event, so while Scottie Scheffler will dominate the headlines, there are plenty of players looking for their chance to win a PGA TOUR event with a weak field. At last year’s Byron Nelson, Scottie Scheffler tied the PGA TOUR 72-hole scoring record with a 31-under-par tournament score. After that, Craig Ranch decided they needed to beef up the course. There was a renovation done to the course last year that added more bunkers and reshaped the greens. It still won’t be a particularly challenging course, but it should be tougher than we’ve seen in recent years.

Si Woo Kim FRL (+2600)

Si Woo Kim is having a great season on the PGA TOUR. He is the second-highest-ranked player in this field and could challenge Scottie Scheffler this week. In 14 events this year, Kim has made all 14 cuts, has eight top-25 finishes, six top-10 finishes and four top-five finishes. He currently ranks ninth in the FedEx Cup standings, thanks largely to a runner-up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, third-place finishes at the WM Phoenix Open and the RBC Heritage and a fourth-place finish at the Cadillac Championship.

Just like Scottie Scheffler, Si Woo Kim is a Dallas resident and is familiar with this course, the weather, and the grass. Kim has played in three tournaments here at TPC Craig Ranch. He has finished in the top-15 on all three occasions, including a runner-up finish in 2023. Other than Scheffler, Kim has had by far the best season of anyone in this field. Between his form and his past success at this course, he is worth a bet to lead after the first round at +2600.

Haotong Li FRL (+6100)

Haotong Li has had a fascinating career. He played mostly internationally throughout his career, and before this season, he had only had 50 starts on the PGA TOUR over 12 years as a professional golfer. However, Li showed up at Royal Portrush last year and finished T4 at the Open Championship, putting his name on the map. That performance earned him status on the PGA TOUR for this season. Unfortunately, his first-ever full season on the PGA TOUR has not gone according to plan. He has only made six out of 13 cuts, but this week at TPC Craig Ranch could be a chance for him to get things rolling again.

Li has had his struggles this year, but he has also shown flashes of the guy who finished T4 at the Open last year. He started the year strong, finishing T8 at The American Express and T11 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He was also tied with Scottie Scheffler for seventh place at the Masters after Saturday’s round, at least before blowing up with an 80 on Sunday to finish T38. In the second major of the year, Li didn’t do anything spectacular, but played really consistent golf to finish T35. In this much weaker field at Craig Ranch, Li has a much better chance of turning those solid rounds into a top-10 finish.

Haotong Li has been great off the tee, ranking 25th on the PGA TOUR in SG: Off the Tee. He has also been solid with his irons, ranking 11th in GIR%. His putting has been the real issue, but that is something that can flip at a course like this where the greens are not overly difficult. PGA West, where the American Express is hosted, is a very comparable course to TPC Craig Ranch. That is where Li had his best finish this season, so expect a good tournament out of Li this week.