Wyndham Clark won the CJ CUP Byron Nelson after shooting a 60 on Sunday at TPC Craig Ranch.
The CJ CUP Byron Nelson was a real birdie-fest, as it always has been at TPC Craig Ranch.
Clark dominated in the end after a superb final round that saw him make nine birdies and an eagle.
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However, his 30-under par total was one stroke higher than when Scottie Scheffler won the CJ CUP Byron Nelson in 2025 with a score of 31-under par for the week.
Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images
As a result of Scheffler ripping up TPC Craig Ranch, Lanny Wadkins was drafted in to complete a renovation of the golf course.
His task was a simple one – make the golf course more difficult for the best golfers in the world.
Obviously the rain and soft conditions didn’t help, but it must be said that Wadkins has failed in his mission.
Joel Dahmen reacts to the CJ CUP Byron Nelson winning score
It’s worth noting that Wadkins “hoped the redesign would lower winning scores closer to 12- to 15-under par.“
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That obviously didn’t turn out to be the case as Wyndham Clark posted scores of 66, 63, 65 and 60 to win by three from Si Woo Kim.
Before the tournament began, Wadkins said, “They basically said they didn’t want 30-under winning the thing anymore, and I told them, don’t worry.“
Joel Dahmen took to his official X account and labelled those comments as ‘hilarious’.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
“Nothing against Wadkins, but this is hilarious,“ Dahmen said.
“Soft course has no chance against the best.“
There are so many simple changes that the PGA Tour could make to TPC Craig Ranch in order to make it more difficult.
And here’s the key: they wouldn’t need Lanny Wadkins to oversee a $25 million renovation project to make it happen.
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The two changes the PGA Tour should make to TPC Craig Ranch
One change that would see scores at TPC Craig Ranch drastically rise would be shaving the edges in between the greens and water hazards.
A good example of this was the tee shot that Scottie Scheffler hit on the par-three 15th hole on Sunday. His pulled iron shot into the green was destined for the water but his ball stayed out of the hazard after being slowed down by thick rough.
That break right there was good enough for a two-shot swing for Scheffler.
Bringing tightly cut surfaces into the mix would bring more jeopardy into play, and more double bogeys would obviously equate to higher average scores.
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Lengthening the course is a moot exercise nowadays, so the PGA Tour golf course setup committee needs to get clever with pin locations.
There is plenty of undulation on the greens at TPC Craig Ranch, but the pin locations were not as tucked as they could have been throughout the week.
I’m not suggesting that the PGA Tour should trick up TPC Craig Ranch so that a score close to even-par wins. It makes a nice change to see birdie-fests sometimes.
However, a winning score closer to around 15-under par would be ideal. Even a 20-under par winning score would be a far more enthralling watch than what we’ve seen at TPC Craig Ranch in recent years.
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Something has to change at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson. TPC Craig Ranch is one of the least inspiring golf courses on the PGA Tour rota, and winning scores of 30-under par or better are not helping its reputation.
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