The PGA Tour’s fall portion of the schedule continues with its fourth trip to Japan for the Zozo Championship. The event has a limited field of 78 players: the top 60 eligible players from the PGA Tour, nine players from the Japan Golf Tour and nine sponsor exemptions. Here’s a look at the previous three winners with their winning score and betting odds:
- 2019 – Tiger Woods,-19, +4000
- 2020 – Patrick Cantlay, -23, +3000
- 2021 – Hideki Matsuyama, -15, +1000
Here’s a look at the three players with the most success at this course over the past three years and the betting odds at SI Sportsbook:
Hideki Matsuyama (+1200)
Over three trips to Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Matsuyama has a win, a runner-up, and a 28th-place finish while going a combined 36 under par over 12 rounds. After finishing fourth in the U.S. Open in mid-June, he missed the cut in two of his following six events, with his highest finish (11th) coming in the Tour Championship. At the Presidents Cup three weeks ago, Matsuyama went 1-3-1. He’ll get plenty of home support in this event, but looks out of form.
Corey Conners (+2500)
Last year Conners failed to qualify for the Zozo Championship, which was disappointing considering his finish in his first two appearances (sixth and eighth). He had four top 10s this season over 23 tournaments, but his only Tour win remains the 2019 Valero Texas Open. Conners missed the cut last month at the Fortinet Championship (70-74) after playing the weekend over his six previous tournaments (61st, 28th, 21st, 28th, fifth, and 26th).
Sebastian Munoz (+4000)
Munoz’ only win came at the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2019. In his two appearances at the Zozo Championship, he finished 14th in 2020 and fourth in 2021. He missed the cut in two of his last five events on the PGA Tour with no top-30 showings (62nd, 46th, and 35th).
Here are the top five players based on their salaries at DraftKings that will be making their first appearance at this event:
Tom Kim (+1400)
Suddenly one of the top young stars on the PGA Tour, the 20-year-old has a pair of wins in his last four starts and has shot sub-70 rounds in 11 of 16 rounds over that span. Last weekend, he won the Shriners Children’s Open with no bogeys over 72 holes.
Cameron Young (+1600)
In his rookie season, Young had five runner-up finishes and a pair of thirds over 25 tournaments. His last PGA stroke play event came in late August at the Tour Championship (19th). Young brings plenty of length off the tee, creating an edge on par 5s (51.6% birdie rate, the Tour average is 43.6%).
Mito Pereira (+3000)
Pereira didn’t earn his full-time PGA card until he was 26. Over his 32 events this season, he had flashes of greatness with six finishes of seventh or better, but also 12 missed cuts. Last week, he finished fourth in the Shriners Children’s Open with four steady rounds (67, 63, 67, and 67).
Sahith Theegala (+3500)
Over the first two stops this fall, Theegala finished sixth with a missed cut. He ranked 28th in earnings ($3.1 million) in his first full season on the PGA Tour. Theegala played on the weekend in 16 of his final 18 events last season, highlighted by three top 10s (seventh, fifth and second). His game is on the rise while he’s still looking for his first PGA Tour win.
Cameron Davis (+4000)
Davis is the 15th-ranked player by salary ($8,500) at DraftKings. Last week, he shot 12 under par to finish 37th at the Shriners Children’s Open. His swing was trending up over five events (8th, 6th, 16th, 14th, and 13th) last summer before fading to 35th at the BMW Championship. Davis has one career win, the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The Zozo Championship doesn’t have a cut, allowing daily players to accept more risk as their backend roster while focusing on stars to build their teams. Xander Schauffele (+800) enters this weekend as the tournament favorite.
To win a GPP in the DFS market, regardless of field size, a team must have the winner plus five other players that have a chance to finish in the top 15. Here’s my roster for this week’s event:
- Cameron Young ($9,300)
- Tyrrell Hatton ($9,100)
- Sahith Theegala ($8,700)
- Cameron Davis ($8,500)
- Kyoung-Hoon Lee ($7,900)
- Brandon Wu ($6,500)
I wanted to roster multiple players with a chance at winning while also playing at a high level over the past few months. Brandon Wu is my backend salary saver based on his four top 10s (third, second, sixth, and eighth) since early March. His boom-or-bust game should work better in an event with no cut.
Best Bet: Cameron Young (+1600)
Best Value: Sahith Theegala (+3500)
Home Run Swing: K.H. Lee (+5000)
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