The PGA Tour remains in Asia this week for the inaugural Zozo Championship out in Japan where the stars of the golfing world will be battling it out for a decent price and the many benefits that go with winning at this level.
The last WGC of the season takes place next week so those in the 78 man field who are already in that will be looking to get their game up to tip top shape while the rest of the players will be looking to take the next step.
The Course
The Narashino County Club in Tokyo is the venue for the tournament this week. We only really have pictures that are doing the rounds to go by this week and the immediate thing to notice is how treelined the track is. It is like they have moved the course used for the recent Italian Open and shoved it in Japan so dense is the trees surrounding it so accuracy off the tee is going to be a big thing this week.
The course itself is a composite track which plays to a par of 70 and a yardage of 7,041 yards so it isn’t particularly long. It will play every inch of that distance though because we’ve all seen the disastrous weather that has been in the Japan area in recent times. More rain is expected this week too so this will be a soft track there for the taking. The rough is said to be pretty juicy though so those who hit greens and set up plenty of chances are the ones to be with here. Wind is going to be up too so those who relish tough conditions should be kept on side.
The Field
78 men will tee it up this week. 60 of them come via the leading players after the FedEx Cup playoffs last season while 10 players from the Asian Tour have been invited into the competition. The other eight players are sponsored invites but no fewer than 50 players who competed in the CJ Cup last week after here for the second leg of the Asian swing.
Last week’s winner Justin Thomas is one of the 78 men teeing it up while Rory McIlroy is also here after competing in the Skins event earlier in the week. The crowds will be flocking out to see Hideki Matsuyama and he’ll be aiming to deliver the goods. US Open champion Gary Woodland, Masters winner Tiger Woods and plenty of other major champions have tee times this week.
Market Leaders
Justin Thomas will begin the week as a 15/2 shot to complete the Asian double after his win in Korea last week. He looks a very worthy favourite unless the win has taken a bit out of him. He hits a lot of greens and his putter was white hot last week. I don’t like taking single figure prices but there really isn’t a whole lot not to like about the American this week.
Rory McIlroy will tee off as an 8/1 second favourite to land the crown. He is renowned as a player who gobbles up soft courses so it would be a surprise to see him out of the frame but is his driving rock solid enough around this tight track? I’m not overly convinced it is. His game hasn’t been in fantastic order in recent times, although Brooks Koepka’s recent words might have fired him into life.
Hideki Matsuyama is an 18/1 shot to win in front of his home game this week. The crowds on his side and home comforts are all things which are in his favour but ultimately I’m not convinced he is value. He is in good form though after finishing third last week but I sense others might use the soft conditions to their advantage a little more. His price is fair at best.
Xander Schauffele will defend his HSBC Champions title next week and he is 22/1 to go there with victory to his name this week. My big question mark over him is whether he has played enough in recent times. I would rather be on someone who played last week I think but I’m a huge Schauffele fan and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he is in the mix come the end of the week. He might just need the run though. It is 25/1 bar the quartet.
Main Bets
Gary Woodland showed his worth at the CJ Cup last week and he is my main bet this week. He has a decent record in Asia and showed that to be the case again when finishing third last week and it might be that the tougher conditions get him a couple of slots higher on the leaderboard. Woodland drives it well, finds plenty of greens and last week his putter was hot. He showed when he won at Pebble that he can handle the breezy conditions so he ticks a lot of boxes for us at a perfectly acceptable price.
In an ideal world Matthew Fitzpatrick would have played last week but given the near miss the week before it probably wouldn’t have made a difference if he had. I said everything about his credentials on tree lined courses when he was our standout bet for the Italian Open a fortnight ago. Sadly he missed an open goal in the final round to come second that week but while others are messing about in the trees he’ll be in the centre of the fairways. His iron play is always tip top and in these soft conditions he should be able to go flag hunting. He has to be on our bet slip.
Outsiders
Corey Conners has been on our radar throughout 2019 and while I’ve gone a little quiet on him recently this track should be the time to get back on him again. He finds a lot of greens and is likely to beat a fair amount of the field in that discipline alone and given the juicy rough around the greens here his iron play gives him a huge advantage. He warmed up for the week with a T12 in Korea last week and given that his PGA Tour win came in Texas we know the winds won’t faze him. He ticks a lot of boxes too and I can’t ignore him.
Another player who has all the credentials to go low in windy conditions is Ryan Palmer. He tends to perform well in Texas where the winds blow so he shouldn’t be too inconvenienced by the early weather this week. He is an aggressive sort so the receptive greens should be right up his street. He had a decent week out in Korea last week and I see no reason why he can’t give us a run for our money at 100/1 here.
Tips
PLACED – Back G.Woodland to win Zozo Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
Back M.Fitzpatrick to win Zozo Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back R.Palmer to win Zozo Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
PLACED – Back C.Conners to win Zozo Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 61.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-6)
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