Preview
2023 ZOZO Championship Tips
Get all of our ZOZO Championship picks and PGA Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below. Now only £49!!
2023 ZOZO Championship Event Info
Starts: 19 October 2023
Course: Accordia Golf Narashino CC, Japan
Par: 70
Length: 7,079 yards
2022 Champion: Keegan Bradley
2023 ZOZO Championship Course Info
Course Designer: Shinya Fujita
Tournament played here since: 2019 (no 2020 edition at this course)
Type of Course: Parkland
Fairways: Korai Zoysiagrass
Greens: Bentgrass greens (11.5 on stimp)
Par 5's: 6th, 14th and 18th
Premium on: All Round Game
Significant Info To Be Aware Of
The field is only 78 players with no cut.
This event returns to Accordia Golf Narashino CC, which hosted the event in 2022, 2021 and 2019. The 2020 Zozo Championship was held in the USA.
2023 ZOZO Championship Weather Forecast
Mostly sunny with temperatures peaking in the mid 20's each afternoon. The wind should test players this week and scoring is likely to be higher.
Thur: Cloudy. Wind 7-11mph.
Fri: Cloudy. Wind 12-17mph.
Sat: Cloudy. Wind 5-8mph.
Sun: Sunny intervals. Wind 4-7mph.
2023 ZOZO Championship Trends
Winning Score
The last two ZOZO Championships have been won with a winning score of fifteen under par. In 2019, Tiger Woods won with a winning score of -19 . However, there were three shots separating him and Hideki Matsuyama in 2nd and a further 3 shots separating Matsuyama and those in 3rd place. We can expect a winning score in the mid teens.
Course Form
Course form held up well in 2022 and 2021 with Bradley and Matsuyama having recorded top seven (or better) finishes at this venue previously.
Recent Form
Keegan Bradley finished 5th at the Sanderson Farms Championship before his win last year. Matsuyama wasn't in strong form with finishes of 59-67 before his win. Runners up, Cameron Tringale and Brenden Steele, weren't in great form either. In 2019, Tiger Woods hadn't played for nine weeks prior to his win. However, the rest of the top 5 each had a top 10 finish in their previous two starts. Those who are still motivated at this time of year are preferred.
Winning Profile
Bradley was 44th in the world rankings when winning. Matsuyama ranked 19th whilst Woods ranked 8th at the time of their wins. All three players were major champions though and obviously have strong pedigree. The winner is likely to come from another strong runner this year.
Age
The three course winners have been in their 20s, 30s and 40s so there is little to be gained from looking at a trend analysis of age.
Travel
The event is played in Japan and two of the three winners of this event had played the week before on the PGA Tour. Hideki Matsuyaa played the 2022 CJ Cup immediately before winning the ZOZO Championship. Travel from the USA to Japan should be factored into how well a player has prepared.
2023 ZOZO Championship Trends Shortlist
Using the information above, we have taken into account the three most relevant trends to establish a shortlist of potential winners. The trends used were:
Course Form: At least one top 10 finish previously
At least one previous PGA Tour win
Travel: Didn't play last week's Shriners Children's Open
The players who meet the above three criteria are:
Xander Schauffele
Keegan Bradley
Collin Morikawa
Rickie Fowler
Sungjae Im
Sahith Theegala
Hideki Matsuyama
Mackenzie Hughes
2023 ZOZO Championship Stats Analysis
Only certain stats are available from 2021 so we will concentrate on the 2019 stats.
Driving Accuracy
Bradley was 23rd in 2022. Rankings for the top 5 in 2019 were 7-29-13-47-3.
Driving Distance
Bradley was 18th in 2022. No distance stats are available for the 2019 tournament but all of the top 5 are above average for length off the tee.
Greens In Regulation
Bradley was 3rd in 2022. Matsuyama was 1st in 2021. Rankings for the top 5 in 2019 were 3-6-20-39-6.
Scrambling
Bradley was 25th in 2022. Matsuyama was 2nd in 2021. Rankings for the top 5 in 2019 were 7-19-11-7-2.
Putting Average
Bradley was 6th in 2022. Matsuyama was 33rd in 2021. Rankings for the top 5 in 2019 were 1-2-12-4-29. A good putting week is essential.
2023 ZOZO Championship In Play Advice
Tough Holes
The 4th, 12th and 5th are three of the harder holes.
Birdie Holes
The par 5s all played under par, with the par 5 18th hole the easiest hole on the course. Outside the par 5s, the short par 4th and short par 3 13th both play easy.
Fast or Slow Start
Keegan Bradley was in 3rd place after the opening round last year. Matsuyama was in 2nd place after round one and led from 36 holes onwards in 2022. In 2019, Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland and Hideki Matsuyama were the front three after the opening 18 holes and all three finished inside the top 5 at the end of the tournament. Fast starts are definitely preferred.
2023 ZOZO Championship Tips
Get all of our ZOZO Championship picks and PGA Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below. Now only £49!!
In-play
2023 ZOZO Championship In-Play Blog
21st October 2023, 7.25pm (UK time)
Player | Total |
Suh |
-9 |
Hossler |
-8 |
Cole |
-8 |
Morikawa |
-7 |
Kodaira |
-6 |
Grillo |
-6 |
2023 Zozo Championship Round 3 Summary
Three bogeys around the turn meant Beau Hossler has relinquished the lead and Justin Suh has taken over at the top. Collin Morikawa forced himself back into contention after playing his opening five holes in three over par. His round of 66 leaves him two shots off the pace.
2023 Zozo Championship Round 4 Weather
Sunny. Wind 5-11mph.
Back or Fade The Favourite?
Justin Suh is the 3/1 favourite given he has a one shot lead. However, Suh has failed to impress when in contention on the PGA Tour to date. Twice he has been inside the top five going into the final round in 2023 and each occasion his position has worsened.
Add in the fact that all three players in the final group are yet to win a PGA Tour event and we may end up seeing al three players drag each other down. We backed Beau Hossler at 50/1 after round one but he looked nervy from the ninth hole onwards in round three and he'll need to re-group for the final round. Eric Cole blew a golden opportunity to win at the Honda Classic earlier this year and questions have to be asked over all three players at the top of the leaderboard.
Suh backers can take heart from the fact he led the Korn Ferry Tour Championship through 54 holes last year and was able to turn that into a win. However, this may be a step too soon for the talented youngster and he would be a lay rather than back in our eyes.
In-Play Zozo Championship Bets We Considered
Satoshi Kodaira and Kurt Kitayama were the two players who made most appeal at 40/1 and 33/1 respectively. With question marks over the front three, we wouldn't be surprised to see someone win this event from off the pace.
Zozo Championship Round 4 Bets
Want to know which bets we went with? You can sign up for all our PGA Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.
20th October 2023, 2.55pm (UK time)
Player | Total |
Hossler |
-7 |
Suh |
-6 |
Kodaira |
-5 |
Four players tied |
-4 |
2023 Zozo Championship Round 2 Summary
Windy conditions saw a dramatic shift on the leaderboard and only 13 players broke par. Round one leader, Collin Morikawa, hit only three fairways and was only able to shoot a round of 73. Beau Hossler was the player to make the most of conditions, shooting a best of the day 65.
2023 Zozo Championship Round 3 Weather
Sunny intervals. Wind 2-9mph.
Back or Fade The Favourite?
Beau Hossler and Xander Schauffele share favouritism at 4/1. We advised Hossler to subscribers yesterday at 50/1 and we're very much hoping he can continue his fine play over the next two days. Ranking seventh for Driving Accuracy and tenth for Greens in Regulation, he is certainly playing well enough to do so.
Hossler's last solo halfway lead came in May 2022 at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He would go on to finish 17th that week but his overall game is much improved since then.
Schauffele does look a significant threat though. Already a winner in Japan, he won an Olympic gold here in 2020, he has a couple of top ten finishes at this event on his CV too. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the world number six move closer to the lead at the conclusion of round three.
In-Play Zozo Championship Bets We Considered
Matthew NeSmith looked a very tempting option to win his third round three ball. He ranks 2nd in greens in regulation and seventh in driving accuracy this week. A 9th place finish in this event last year shows his liking for the track and he's up against two weak opponents in Ben Griffin and Will Gordon. Both players are making their debut in Japan and only Adam Svensson has hit fewer greens so far this week than Griffin. Gordon may be a threat but NeSmith at 15/8 is tempting.
Zozo Championship Round 3 Bets
Want to know which bets we went with? You can sign up for all our PGA Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.
19th October 2023, 2.45pm (UK time)
Player | Total |
Morikawa |
-6 |
Horikawa |
-5 |
Grillo |
-5 |
Shelton |
-5 |
Cole |
-5 |
Hojgaard N |
-5 |
2023 Zozo Championship Round 1 Summary
Collin Morikawa leads the way by one shot over a group of five. Xander Scauffele and Sungjae Im got off to solid starts, three back, whilst home favourite Matsuyama is five back of the lead.
2023 Zozo Championship Round 2 Weather
Sunny. Wind 8-14mph.
Back or Fade The Favourite?
With heavier winds tomorrow, Morikawa looks too short at 3/1 and we are happy to take him on. He only hit 53% of fairways today and that could potentially stall his progress if those numbers continue. Plenty of strong challengers are only three shots back.
In-Play Zozo Championship Bets We Considered
We considered Emiliano Grillo at the front of the market at 16/1. It's unclear to us why he is 5pts bigger in the betting than Eric Cole on the same score, the Argentinian won the Charles Schwab earlier this year and was 4th here in Japan last year.
Zozo Championship Round 2 Bets
Want to know which bets we went with? You can sign up for all our PGA Tour tips for 2023 by clicking the button below.