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The PGA Tour heads to the Narashino Country Club in Japan for the ZOZO Championship. In years past, this event was part of a group of tournaments known as the Asian swing. Now, only the ZOZO remains due to COVID-19. One of the other “Swing” events, the CJ Cup, has now moved to the United States and is played in South Carolina.
The ZOZO has some big names once again this season including Tom Kim who is coming off a hot streak that includes winning last week at the Shriners. Kim comes in at +1400 along with Collin Morikawa. But the favorite to win the event outright is Xander Schauffele who stands alone at +750.
This means that defending ZOZO champ Hideki Matsuyama will have a tough group of favorites to beat. Matsuyama comes in at +1200 and won last season’s event by five strokes over Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale.
Here are the favorites through to win the ZOZO Championship outright:
Xander Schauffele +750
Sungjae Im +1200
Hideki Matsuyama +1200
Collin Morikawa +1400
Tom Kim +1400
2022 ZOZO Championship Preview
The ZOZO Championship is a 78-player tournament with no cuts.
Where: Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Course: Narashino Country Club
Format: Stroke Play
Par: 70
Length: 7079 Yards
When: Oct 13-16, 2022
Purse: $11 Million
TV Coverage: Golf Channel (Time difference due to event overseas.)
The ZOZO Championship takes place at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club which has had some work done to it. The course now plays longer as 40 yards have been added. It is a stunning course that features lush terrain, rolling hills, tree-lined fairways, and plenty of bunkers.
Players will have to deal with tight fairways, small greens, and some elevation changes. Even with the added distance, the course plays shorter than many on the PGA TOUR. Big Boomers may have to lay back a bit and pull more wedges out of their bags.
2022 ZOZO Championship Predictions
Xander Schauffele +750
Xander Schauffele is coming off a great season that included winning three times in half a year. He won the GENISIS Scottish Open, the Travelers, and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Plus, he nailed down the Gold at the Olympics the season prior and a great showing at the Presidents Cup a few weeks ago. Schauffele is now ranked 6th on the OWGR and is the highest-ranking player in the ZOZO field.
Sungjae Im +1200
Sungjae Im played with more emotion while looking like he was having fun at the Presidents Cup. It was a side of Im that he has not shown too often in the past. It worked for him! He’s gone over a year without a win on the PGA TOUR but he’s been close. He finished 7th in the Shriners last week and was T2 at both the Wyndham Championship and the 3M Open.
Tommy Fleetwood +2500
Tommy Fleetwood has been playing mostly on the DP World Tour but did make a big splash in his most recent PGA TOUR visits. He was T4 at both the Open (British Open) and the GENISIS Scottish Open. Fleetwood seems to like this course. He finished T22 at the ZOZO in 2019 and bested that effort in 2021 when he carded a T7 effort. Fleetwood has the short game that can keep him in the running at this type of course.
Others: Tom Hoge (+3000) has looked strong over the last several months and last season. He was T4 at the Shriners last week and finished 10th by himself at the TOUR Championship. Luke List (+7000) has an amazing short game and when his putter is on point he’s tough to beat. If he can stay consistent over the course of the ZOZO then his style of play should pay off.
2022 ZOZO Championship Betting Lines
Xander Schauffele +750
Sungjae Im +1200
Hideki Matsuyama +1200
Collin Morikawa +1400
Tom Kim +1400
Viktor Hovland +1600
Cameron Young +1800
Tyrrell Hatton +2200
Corey Conners +2500
Tommy Fleetwood +2500
Si-Woo Kim +2800
Keegan Bradley +3000
Tom Hoge +3000
Maverick McNealy +3500
Sahith Theegala +3500
Sebastian Munoz +4000
Mito Pereira +4000
Scott Stallings +4000
Cameron Davis +4000
Sepp Straka +4000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +4500
Emiliano Grillo +5000
Lucas Herbert +5000
Davis Riley +5000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +5000
Matthew Nesmith +5000
Mackenzie Hughes +5500
Mark Hubbard +6600
Andrew Putnam +6600
JJ Spaun +7000
Kurt Kitayama +7000
Rickie Fowler +7000
Luke List +7000
Aaron Rai +7500
Taylor Moore +8000
Wyndham Clark +8000
Kevin Streelman +8000
Matt Wallace +8000
Brendan Steele +8000
Stephan Jaeger +9000
Patrick Rodgers +9000
Troy Merritt +10000
Russell Knox +10000
Adam Schenk +10000
Hayden Buckley +10000
Alex Smalley +10000
Adam Svensson +10000
Adam Long +10000
Martin Laird +10000
Cameron Champ +10000
Joel Dahmen +10000
Dylan Frittelli +12500
Brandon Wu +12500
Beau Hossler +12500
Lee Hodges +12500
David Lipsky +12500
Sam Ryder +12500
Satoshi Kodaira +12500
C T Pan +15000
Ryo Hisatsune +15000
Kazuki Higa +15000
Takumi Kanaya +15000
Peter Malnati +15000
John Huh +17500
Shugo Imahira +17500
Tomoharu Otsuki +17500
Rikuya Hoshino +20000
Chez Reavie +20000
Yuto Katsuragawa +20000
Aguri Iwasaki +20000
Chad Ramey +20000
Riki Kawamoto +25000
Keita Nakajima +25000
Danny Lee +25000
Kaito Onishi +27500
Mikumu Horikawa +30000
Hiroshi Iwata +30000
Naoyuki Kataoka +40000
