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The PGA Tour is in Japan this week for the 2023 Zozo Championship, which for the 4th time since it joined the tour circuit in 2019 is being hosted by Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. Keegan Bradley will look to defend his title in this 78-player, no-cut event.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets among the 2023 Zozo Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Xander Schauffele is the biggest name in the field and the favorite (+700) to win this week. He also comes in as the 2nd-ranked player in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, behind only Scottie Scheffler, who isn’t playing in Japan. Collin Morikawa will be teeing it up and he’s Golfweek’s 14th-ranked player with Sungjae Im coming in at No. 22.
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club is a shorter course, playing only 7,079 yards as a par 70. It features 5 par 3s and only 3 par 5s, so there aren’t as many scoring opportunities as a traditional par 72 layout with 4 par 4s.
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Zozo Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 9:16 a.m. ET.
Hideki Matsuyama (+300)
Matsuyama has played really well here in 2 of his 3 starts, winning in 2021 and finishing 2nd in 2019. He came in 40th last year but there’s no reason to believe he can’t finish near the top of the leaderboard again in this limited field. He’s gained 30.4 total strokes here in 3 rounds, which is the best of any player in the field, according to Ron Klos.
Sahith Theegala (+320)
Theegala finished 5th in his debut here last year, so he didn’t take long to get acclimated to this tree-lined course. Coming off his win at the Fortinet Championship last month, Theegala is riding some momentum into Japan.
Cameron Champ (+600)
Let’s take a chance on Champ in this no-cut event, where he finished 8th in his debut last year. In his last 2 starts this season, he’s finished 9th and 18th and at 1 point led the Shriners Children’s Open last week after firing rounds of 63 and 67 the 1st 2 days, followed by a 65 on Sunday.
Zozo Championship – Top-10 picks
Keegan Bradley (+175)
Bradley is the defending champion and should probably have shorter odds because of it. He’s finished 13th, 7th and 1st in his 3 starts here, putting together the best average finish of anyone in the field who’s played here at least twice.
Eric Cole (+220)
Cole has been in excellent form recently, finishing 3rd and 4th in 2 of his last 3 starts. Though he’s never played here before, his game is suited for any course, especially one that doesn’t require a ton of length off the tee.
Cam Davis (+160)
Let’s keep riding the Cam Davis train. He has 5 top-10 finishes in his last 6 starts, including a T-7 at the Shriners just last week. In his lone start here last year, he finished T-29, but he’s a good bet to finish in the top 10 with the way he’s been playing.
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Zozo Championship – Top-20 picks
Emiliano Grillo (+150)
Grillo came in 4th at the Zozo Championship last year, which was his 3rd start here after finishing 30th and 73rd the previous 2 years. He has 2 top-10s in his last 4 starts this season, though he has missed the cut in his 2 most recent events.
Mackenzie Hughes (+275)
Hughes is absolutely worth a play this week. He finished 4th here in 2021 before coming in 23rd last year, and though he only has 1 top-30 in his last 5 starts, this course seems to fit his game.
Tom Hoge (+188)
Hoge has 2 missed cuts in his last 5 starts but in the 3 events where he did make the cut, he finished 21st, 14th and 13th, so it’s been a mixed bag. At the Zozo Championship, he’s come in 17th and 9th in just 2 starts.
Other T20 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Hayden Buckley (+280)
- Sam Ryder (+200)
Zozo Championship – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Keegan Bradley (+105) vs. Min Woo Lee (-130)
Going with Bradley again here at plus-money against Lee, who’s never played this event before. It’s surprising to see Bradley as the underdog, having played here 3 times in the last 4 years, so he’s a great value.
Zozo Championship – Top American
Keegan Bradley (+1200)
As much as I like Morikawa and his ball-striking, as well as Rickie Fowler, Bradley’s track record in this event is too good to pass up at multiple spots.
Zozo Championship – First-round leader
Adam Schenk (+4000)
Schenk is a sneaky pick to be the 1st-round leader, shooting 65 in Round 1 last year and 67 in 2021, putting him near the top of the leaderboard after the 1st round in both starts.
Hideki Matsuyama (+2500)
Matsuyama shot 64 to open his tournament in 2021 and 65 in 2019, which was 1 stroke off the pace after the 1st round in both years.
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