The App is Back! Don’t forget to download the NBC Sports EDGE app to receive real-time player news, mobile alerts and track your favorite players. Plus, now you can check out articles and player cards. Get it here!
The PGA Tour heads to Japan for the third ever ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. While last year’s championship had to take place here stateside due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the players happily return to the land of the rising sun this time around.
Narashino Country Club to be specific as 78 players tee it up in the fifth event of the 2021-2022 PGA Tour season. Featuring no-cut, our head-to-head matchups will need to endure four days – or should I say four nights given the time difference – of sweat.
[[ad:athena]]
Yet when looking to Tiger Woods in 2019, we can project exactly what is needed around Narashino CC in order to find success. As one would when they win by three-strokes, Woods found his name at the top of plenty of statistical categories by the end of the week.
However, never a player known for his accuracy, he finished seventh in driving accuracy. Playing extremely soft due to a typhoon – thus effectively widening the fairways – Woods was able to keep his ball in front of him and lean on his world class iron-play.
Perhaps an avenue for success, we will look to those players who are more known as “plotters” and strategic golfers as opposed to long-hitters. While distance is always an advantage, we’ll stick with those players who understand the importance of keeping the ball in the short grass.
In unison with strong iron-play and competent par-3 scoring and we should have a way in. The oddsmakers at PointsBet Sportsbook have priced numerous head-to-head matchups ahead of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Friendly reminder this tournament actually begins TONIGHT (Wednesday 7:30 p.m. EDT).
Editor’s Note: Get an edge with our premium DFS and Betting Golf Tools that are packed with a DFS Optimizer, DFS Projections, Salary Tracker, Edge Driver, Prop Projections, Futures and much more. Gain access to both tools in our EDGE+Max tier and don’t forget to use promo code SAVE10 to get 10% off. Click here to learn more!
Head-to-Head Matchups (Odds Via PointsBet):
C.T. Pan (-109) over Si Woo Kim
Off to a fantastic start in this new campaign, Pan boasts finishes of T-6 and T-11 in his two outings this season. Possessing a well-rounded game, the bronze medalist from the 2020 Olympic Games returns to Japan for the first-time since capturing such. This time in much better form as he has now gained strokes from tee-to-green in four consecutive starts dating back to last season.
With his most recent performance reading +6.2 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, Pan has found a different gear with his irons. One to find trouble in that area of the bag, the 29-year-old has been exquisite up to this point in the season, gaining +4.6 strokes on approach at the Fortinet Championship and +3.1 strokes at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Couple his ability to consistently find fairways with a steady putting stroke and Pan’s success here in the states should once again translate to a big week in Japan. As opposed to Kim who would rarely be described as “steady.”
While he too got off to a strong start to his season, capturing T-11 and T-8 finishes in his first two tournaments, he has since hit a bump in the road. Missing the cut at the Shriners Children’s Open, Kim lost strokes across the board in his first two days in Las Vegas.
He since teed it up in THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT, where he finished in solo 76th. Losing nearly fifteen strokes to the field via –5.2 SG: Approach, -4.8: SG Around-the-Green, and –5.2 SG: Putting, Sin City did not treat the South Korean well. Taking the charter flight across the Pacific at completion of play at The Summit Club, I fancy the troubles travel with Kim to Japan, thus giving the edge to Pan in this one.
Rickie Fowler (-102) over Tommy Fleetwood
There is a sense of trepidation behind this selection, but perhaps Fowler can keep the good times rolling. Possessing the 54-hole lead at The Summit Club, it was always going to be a tall order to hold off Rory McIlroy in his return to contention. However, what surprised me, wasn’t that he surrendered the lead, but how he did it.
Known throughout his career to have “the best putting stroke on the PGA Tour,” Fowler posted –2.7 SG: Putting in the final round alone. Hoping for a bounce back with the flat stick, his game from tee-to-green looks superb. Especially from off-the-tee where he has been known to struggle from time to time.
Posting +5.5 SG: Off-the-Tee, last week in Vegas marked his best performance in said category since the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush. The runner-up that year in Northern Ireland? Coincidentally, Fleetwood who I will continue to wager against until he proves otherwise.
While he got the better of us last week, it was hardly through his own play as he finished in the middle of the pack in a tie for 38th. Struggling with his iron-play and putting, he found some form from around-the-green. Not usually his area of expertise, if that part of the game falls off at Narashino CC, Fowler should be able to do what Justin Rose was unable to last week.
PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner, and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.
