The CJ Cup Recap: Koepka Moves to No. 1

The knocks on Brooks Koepka have been that he doesn't look like he cares and that he shows up only for the majors. As far as knocks go, you could do a lot worse.

Koepka may have looked expressionless for most of the week in South Korea, but he emerged with a win – in a non-major – and also a little something extra. When he captured the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges by four strokes over red-hot Gary Woodland on Sunday, he ascended to the top of the world rankings for the first time.

Koepka thus becomes the fourth golfer to be ranked No. 1 this year, overtaking good buddy Dustin Johnson. Justin Rose and Justin Thomas, who could've regained the top spot but finished far back in a tie for 36th, were the others to be ranked first this year. In an era dominated by Tiger Woods, there has been only one other year in which four guys were No. 1. That was 1997, when Woods, Ernie Els, Tom Lehman and Greg Norman held the top spot. Hat tip on that to @Nosferatu, the noted OWGR expert on Twitter.

it was after only his fifth career win, and in only his 106th PGA Tour event, that Koepka garnered the top spot. The CJ Cup was just his second victory in a non-major, along with the 2015 Waste Management. The 28-year-old Floridian has used three major wins – the past two U.S. Opens and the 2018 PGA Championship – to collect most of his OWGR points.

While Koepka began the final round with a four-stroke lead, a hard charge by Woodland erased it by the time they got to the back nine. Then, he did what great champions do; what is hard to do without caring. Koepka came home in 29, using five birdies and then a closing eagle to make the end result look like a cakewalk. But it was anything but.

Koepka now heads to the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, where he'll come face to face with Johnson and Rose (but not Thomas), both of whom can wrest back the top ranking. With four golfers so closely bunched, it would not be surprising to see frequent changes. Koepka has said he would like to end the year as No. 1. This will be his final start until 2019. Whether he is atop the rankings come New Year's Day, Koepka has let it be known that he very much cares about being the best golfer in the world.

A quick note about the course, the Club at Nine Bridges. Last year, the first time the track was used in a big event, Thomas' winning score was 9-under. But wind was a huge factor. How huge? Koepka won at 21-under, and there was 17 guys who shot 9-under or better. Just something to keep in your back pocket for next year's tournament.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Gary Woodland
Woodland made it eight top-25s in his past nine starts with his best showing in that stretch. The runner-up moved him to No. 30 in the world, nearing his highest ranking ever, which was 24th back in early 2015. After playing the first two legs of the Asian Swing, Woodland is one of the few players skipping the third and final leg in Shanghai. That's too bad for Woodland backers, as you want to ride the hot hand. And you never know when it will end.

Ryan Palmer
We've talked before about how the vast majority of golfers ride a handful of good (or better) finishes to accrue the majority of their points/money over the course of the season. This was one of those weeks for Palmer, with a course-record 10-under 62 on Sunday vaulting him to a tie for third with Rafa Cabrera Bello. He birdied – get this – the final seven holes. Last season, Palmer had three top-10s, so they are virtually impossible to predict. For what it's worth, they were at the Farmers, the Quick Loans National and the Northern Trust – and only the Farmers will be played at the same track this season.

Jason Day
Day used a 65-67 weekend to climb the leaderboard into a tie for fifth. The most noteworthy development was that it moved him back inside the top-10 in the world – while bumping idle Jordan Spieth out of the top-10 for the first time in four years. Day goes for more this week in Shanghai.

Ian Poulter
Poulter began the day in the final group with Koepka but was four strokes behind him. He climbed to within one early on Sunday, only to wind up a whopping 11 strokes back in a tie for 10th. Poulter observers should not be terribly surprised. By all accounts, the Englishman had a fantastic bounce-back season in 2017-18, but the weekend fades were deflating. Poulter was 107th in final-round scoring average last season and 132nd in final-round performance – that's the percentage of times a golfer improves his position on the leaderboard (or it remains unchanged). Poulter's percentage was under 50 percent, at 46.67.

Brian Harman
The left-hander had a roller-coaster week of 76-64-75-68 to tie for 36th. Of course, that's nothing to write home about in a 78-man field – yet it was Harman's best showing since June, a span of eight tournaments. He had a great fall season a year ago, ripping off five straight top-10s, including a tie for fifth at the CJ Cup, that lifted him to a career-best 20th in the OWGR. Now, Harman is outside the top-40. His strokes-gained numbers in approach and around the green were horrible last season, two of the most critical areas needed to succeed on the PGA Tour, especially for a shorter hitter.

Joaquin Niemann
The Chilean teenager – he'll be 19 for another few weeks – really took the PGA Tour by storm after he turned pro in the spring. At the CJ Cup, Niemann tied for 36th. It may be something; it may be nothing, but that was his fifth straight tournament dating back to the Canadian Open without so much as a top-30. It could be the rigors of a long season (though Niemann was off for the entire playoffs). Niemann is off this week, and we don't know how much more he'll play during the fall season. But he wouldn't be the first player to announce himself with a big splash only to take a step or two backward.

Ryan Armour
Armour heads from South Korea to Mississippi (we're guessing there's not a direct flight) to defend his title at the Sanderson Farms. He tied for 29th at the CJ Cup after a T33 at the CIMB Classic, so he's playing decently. But it seems a bit much to expect a good finish at the Sanderson after logging so many air miles in such a short time, even being a PGA Tour golfer who gets to travel first class. For the record, Armour did not play the Asian Swing last year.

Jason Kokrak
Kokrak tied for 67th, by all accounts bad in a 78-man field. But he moved up eight spots on Sunday with a 4-under 68. We noticed while researching Poulter's fourth-round troubles that Kokrak is actually quite good on Sunday. He was seventh last season in final-round scoring average (68.80) and tied for 20th in final-round performance. In the end, your score after four rounds is what is, no matter how you got there. But as any fantasy player will tell you, there are few things more maddening than seeing one of your guys tumble down the leaderboard on Sunday. You always feel better with a good Sunday showing.

Shugo Imahira
The 26-year-old won the Bridgestone Open on the Japan Tour. Of note is that this little-known golfer is now up to 67th in the world. This was his sixth top-three in Japan since June. Imahira has played only a handful of PGA Tour events, missing the cut in majors each of the past three years. He also made the cut and tied for 54th at the Sony last January. Anyone that high in the world rankings bears watching.