Story by Brad Townsend, The Dallas Morning News
It was hard to imagine the CJ Cup Byron Nelson having more momentum than late afternoon of May 4, when world No. 1 and Dallasite Scottie Scheffler completed his eight-shot victory at McKinney’s TPC Craig Ranch.
Until Monday, that is, when officials told The Dallas Morning News that the contract with the PGA Tour to keep the tournament at TPC Craig Ranch has been extended through 2030.
Since his Nelson triumph with a tour-record-tying score of 253 (31 under par) Scheffler has continued to roll, winning the PGA Championship and the Memorial. Likewise, good news continues for the 57-year-old CJ Cup Nelson.
Roughly an hour after last month’s Nelson concluded, phase II of a $22.5 million reinvestment project to overhaul TPC Craig Ranch began. Work is scheduled to be completed well before next year’s Nelson, May 21-24.
“I think what’s really impressive here is the strength of the partnerships,” said David Pillsbury, CEO of Invited, which with the city of McKinney jointly announced the extension. “We’re just really proud to be one of the key partners in that remarkable equation.”
The partnership includes the 650-member host-organization Salesmanship Club of Dallas. Since 1968, the Nelson has generated $190 million for the Salesmanship Club’s Momentous Institute, which uses mental health services, education and professional training to strengthen children, families and communities.
Since 2021 the tournament’s partnership has included the city of McKinney and Craig Ranch founder David Craig, which for more than a decade worked to lure the tournament north to Collin County, after runs at Preston Trail (1968-1982), TPC Las Colinas (1983-2017) and Trinity Forest.
Last but not least the partnership includes CJ, Korea’s leading food culture company. In 2024 CJ replaced AT&T as the Nelson’s title sponsor, with a tournament-stabilizing 10-year agreement.
Pillsbury said CJ’s sponsorship was the final impetus for Dallas-based Invited, which owns 150 golf and country clubs worldwide, to make the largest single-course reinvestment in its history in TPC Craig Ranch, which was designed by Tom Weiskopf, opening in 2004.
Invited hired Wadkins Design Group, led by 1973 Nelson champion and World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins, to complete the TPC Craig Ranch overhaul.