Steve Palmer's CJ Cup first-round preview, best threeball bets, free golf tips

Golf tips, best first-round threeball bets and player analysis for the CJ Cup at Summit Club on the PGA Tour.

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf red button, 3.15pm Thursday

Best bets

Maverick McNealy to win threeball
4pts 11-10 bet365

Aaron Wise to win threeball
3pts 13-10 bet365

Keegan Bradley to win threeball
2pts 6-4 bet365

Alex Noren to win threeball
2pts 11-8 bet365

First-round preview

Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and defending champion Jason Kokrak comprise the marquee morning threeball (5.25pm UK and Ireland time) in the CJ Cup at Summit Club, while Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland headline the later starters (8.06pm).

The best punting tactic for day one, though, is to support players who already have some knowledge of this new PGA Tour venue. Summit Club is making its Tour debut, and regular Las Vegas visitor Kokrak has explained that judging distance will be particularly tricky at Summit. Depth perception will be tough for the newcomers.

Maverick McNealy is one player in the field who can hit the ground running. The Summit Club member lives in Vegas and will expect to boss his 3.20pm threeball with Chris Kirk and Minkyu Kim. McNealy was runner-up in the Fortinet Championship a month ago.

Aaron Wise has lived in Vegas for five years and his coach teaches from TPC Summerlin. Eighth place in the Shriners Children's Open last week, featuring three bogey-free rounds, was encouraging for the former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Wise can leave Jhonattan Vegas and Mackenzie Hughes behind in their 3.44pm Summit meeting.

Two other threeballs wagers appeal for different reasons. Summit Club will start the week relatively soft, drying out in the sunshine as the tournament wears on. Big-hitters may dominate in the early rounds and Keegan Bradley can see off Brian Harman and Seongh Yeon Kim (6.13pm).

Alex Noren, who was fourth in The Northern Trust in August and has finished in the top 30 in his last five events, can be fancied against Kevin Streelman and Joohyung Kim in the 3.32pm threeball. A sunny, calm opening day is forecast, with temperatures rising throughout, peaking at 21C.

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