PGA Tour Accused of ‘Dishonoring’ Byron Nelson as Retired Pro Gets Hired for $9.9M Event

“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. I have really good memories of this tournament. This tournament has always treated me really well.” Scottie Scheffler said about the CJ Cup Byron Nelson event. Having great memories at the event, be it the crowd support because of being a Dallas native, or the first opportunity to play on the PGA Tour. The journey for Scheffler has been memorable at the event. However, for the analysts, the event hasn’t been the greatest as they criticize the wrong decision for the event.

The event, dating back decades, has a strong history to follow. The event began in 1926, called the Dallas Open, it went through its first name change in 1944 as the Texas Victory Open, then in 1968 it was changed to the Byron Nelson Golf Classic, honoring the great American professional. The final change it made was in 2023, when CJ Group became the sponsor. But with the changes, it has raised concerns. Recently, at the Fried Egg Podcast, Brendan Porath and Andy Johnson discussed the problem that the event faces. Porath started the discussion asking questions like the need for the tournament — to satisfy the need of sponsors, to fill four days of the schedule, or to stay in Dallas for even, and so on.

Speaking of which, Johnson jumped in saying, “We have to honor Byron Nelson, we have to honor one of the great players of all time.” Well, this was the aim when the event was renamed to the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in 1968 to honor the great golfer who had 64 victories to his name. But arguably, Porath had something else in mind, which he voiced out. He said, “They’re dishonouring Byron Nelson at this point with what’s happened.” The panelist shares his frustration with the event on how it has degraded over time. He shared how earlier top names used to participate, and now with Korean event partnership (The CJ Cup and the Byron Nelson Golf Classic), “is sort of a mess.”

Even with the current attempt to improve the course, the panel has described it as “Frankenstein nature.” The PGA Tour hired Lanny Wadkins, a former American professional, to make the crucial changes in the course. Speaking for that, Johnson said, “They just like simply don’t understand golf architecture, so it’s not surprising that they hired Lanny Wadkins.” Even though the duo praised the local guy for his career achievements, being hired for the course improvement isn’t what they liked.

Despite the disagreement, the golfers have constantly showcased high-scoring matches with record-setting lows at the TPC Craig Ranch. This year, too, the same can be expected with top names participating in the full-field event.

Can 2025 be the year of a record at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson?

The event, which began in 1944, offers a whopping purse increase of $9,900,000 for the players making the cut. However, away from the grand purse, the record-setting performance and top names are what have kept the attention. Since 2009, the record of aggregate score has been tied, but not surpassed. At first, Rory Sabbatini scored 261, which was then matched by Aaron Wise (2018), Kang Sung-hoon (2019), and Jason Day (2023). Even Lee Kyoung-hoon has the lowest score recorded under par, 26.

But with top names including the current world No. 1, Scheffler, who is a native of Dallas, along with Jordan Spieth, participating, the record could see new names joining the list. Apart from the two obvious fan favorites, Sungjae Im, Taylor Penrith, Si Woo Kim, Ben Griffin, Rasmus Hojgaard, Will Zalatoris, and Tom Kim are some of the golfers elevating the course.

With top names participating, can the event get a record low? Or will the accusation by the analyst become true with a bad viewers’ experience in the course? Share what you think with us in the comments below.