[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]
The PGA Tour heads out of the country this week for the 2023 Zozo Championship, which will be played at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Japan, just outside Tokyo. The 1st round begins on Thursday morning, but TV coverage begins Wednesday night due to the time difference.
Below, we look at the 2023 Zozo Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
It’s a stronger field than we’ve seen in most fall events the last month or so, with Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler all teeing it up in the 78-man field in Japan this week. Bradley is the defending champion here, beating Fowler and Andrew Putnam by 1 shot last year.
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club has hosted this event 3 times in the last 4 years, with the exception being in 2020 when the event was kept stateside and played at Sherwood Country Club due to the pandemic. It’s a 36-hole venue, with the Zozo Championship using 9 holes from each of the 2 courses on-site. It’s a shorter course, playing 7,079 yards as a par 70.
WATCH: PGA Tour is live on ESPN+! Get ESPN+
Zozo Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 7:28 p.m. ET.
Keegan Bradley (+2200)
Bradley not only won here last year, but he finished T-7 in 2021 and T-13 in 2019. He obviously likes this course a great deal and has played well here in the past, which isn’t necessarily reflected in his outright odds. There are 8 players with the same or better odds to win than Bradley, which doesn’t feel right.
Eric Cole (+2500)
Cole just finished T-3 at the Shriners Children’s Open on Sunday after finishing 4th at the Fortinet Championship last month, so he’s been playing well this fall. In fact, he hasn’t finished worse than T-35 since July, an impressive stretch of play by the 35-year-old.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3012″ ]
Zozo Championship picks – Contenders
Emiliano Grillo (+5000)
Grillo finished 30th in 2019 and 73rd in 2021, but he came close to winning here last year when he finished alone in 4th place, just 2 shots off the lead set by Bradley. We can ignore the fact he missed the cut in his last 2 starts this season because prior to that, he finished T-6, T-10, T-20, T-31 and T-29 in his previous 5 starts. This could be the week he gets back on track and he provides good value at +5000.
Tom Hoge (+5000)
In his last 2 starts at the Zozo Championship, Hoge finished T-9 in 2022 and T-17 in 2021. Before missing the cut last week at the Shriners Children’s Open, he finished T-13 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and 21st at the BMW Championship. He’s playing relatively well at the moment and has 2 top-20 finishes here.
Zozo Championship picks – Long shots
Hayden Buckley (+10000)
Buckley’s recent play is nothing to write home about, missing 5 cuts in his last 7 starts, with his best finish being a T-52. However, he tied for 5th in this event last year in his tournament debut, which gives us reason to believe he could get back on track this week in Tokyo.
Mackenzie Hughes (+10000)
Hughes has only finished better than T-49 once since the PGA Championship in May, but he’s come in 23rd and 4th in his last 2 starts at the Zozo Championship in Japan. It’s a good buy-low spot for a guy who can obviously play, which is why he’s a solid long-shot value at +10000.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″ ]
Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
- Talor Gooch claims $18 million bonus as season-long 2023 LIV Golf individual champion
- Tiger Woods announces field for 2023 Hero World Challenge
Follow @camdasilva on Twitter/X. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter/X and like us on Facebook.
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1364]