RADIO
Hello PGA DFS family and welcome back to Horse For The Course! The Shriners Children Open rarely disappoints and that was especially true of this year's edition, as rising superstar Tom "The Tank" Kim rolled through the field like a really useful engine for his second victory on the PGA Tour. Kim impressively went bogey-free over the Shriners' 72-holes and outlasted this article's Horse for last week, Patrick Cantlay.
With Vegas in the rearview, we head around the globe for the ZOZO Championship, an event that's becoming a staple leg of the PGA Tour's "Asia Swing". Let's dive right in!
Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our excellent PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
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2022-23 ZOZO Championship
For those that are unaware, golf is extremely popular in Japan. That fervor only increased with Hideki Matsuyama's historical victory at the Masters two years ago and Japanese fans have been rewarded with a PGA Tour event that's all their own. The ZOZO Championship has visited the country in two of the last three years - the 2020 edition was held in California due to COVID - and you couldn't ask for two bigger champions, as the legend Tiger Woods and local hero Hideki Matsuyama have won the editions of the ZOZO held on Japanese soil.
While it will be tough to top either of those winners, this week's field isn't short on stars. Matsuyama will be back to defend against the likes of Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, & Cameron Young. The international contingent will also be strong, with last week's winner Tom Kim leading a group that includes Sungjae Im, Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood, and Tyrrell Hatton.
For the first time since the TOUR Championship, DFS players will be dealing with a format that's a break from the norm. The ZOZO is a limited-field, no-cut event. All of the invited 78 players will be guaranteed four rounds - barring a WD. This means that we can - and should - take an aggressive approach to fantasy lineup construction on this slate.
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!
The Course: Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club
Par 70 - 7,079 Yards, Greens: Bent, Designed By: Shinya Fujita
Opened in 1965, Narashino is one of the most highly-regarded golf clubs in Japan. Fairly short by modern standards at just over 7,000 yards, this is a fairly tight, tree-lined layout that's popular throughout Japan. Players will face multiple doglegs and water hazards when making the loop, while fairway and greenside bunkers offer some protection for this shortish course.
The layout has a few nuances that we don't see every day, including the unique feature of two different greens on each hole. Officials haven't gone nuts with these in the ZOZO's two previous editions here, but it does offer some fun options when it comes to course set-up. In addition to the multiple greens, we also have a rather distinctive mix of holes, as the 36-hole facility features a mix of holes from two courses that incorporates five (very short) Par-3s and just three Par-5s.
While the sample size at Accordia is tiny, we can gather from the two past winners on this golf course - Tiger Woods & Hideki Matsuyama - that this is a layout that rewards exceptional ball-striking and elite iron play. That's what I'll lean on from a statistical perspective this week.
I always recommend checking out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett for an in-depth breakdown of this week's golf course!
Recent ZOZO Winners & Scores
- 2022 Season: Hideki Matsuyama (-15)
- 2021: Patrick Cantlay (-23) *At Sherwood CC
- 2020: Tiger Woods (-19)
The Horse
Hideki Matsuyama
- Event Scoring Average (Includes 2020 edition at Sherwood CC): 67.00
- Notable Event Finishes: Win (2021), 2nd ('19)
- DraftKings Price: $10,400 FanDuel Price: $11,600
While course history is somewhat tricky this week, Hideki Matusyama’s track record at Accordia leaves little doubt about the fit. Runner-up to Tiger Woods in the inaugural ZOZO Championship in 2019 and victorious in last year’s edition, Matsuyama’s elite ball-striking prowess and his familiarity with the Japanese style of golf, have proven to be a considerable advantage in his “hometown event”.
It looked as though ‘Deki was in for a huge 2022, as he headed into the year with wins in both this event and January’s Sony Open. Unfortunately, that positive momentum was derailed by injury. He was forced to WD from multiple events with a neck injury that proved to be bothersome throughout the year.
A gutty top-15 in his title defense at the Masters and a top-five at Brookline were the high points in what was ultimately a forgettable year on the whole for Matsuyama. With a top-25 at the Fortinet and a President’s Cup appearance under his belt in the past month, it appears that he arrives in his home country at least healthy and ready to make another run on this layout where he’s found so much success in the past.
The Ponies
Sungjae Im
- Event Scoring Average: 68.00
- Notable Event Finishes: T3 ('19)
- DraftKings Price: $10,000 FanDuel Price: $11,700
The already-legendary grinder has just one start at ZOZO start at Accordia on his jam-packed resume, but that T3 result in 2019 indicates that this layout is a nice fit for Sungjae Im.
The Korean superstar gained 10.9 strokes total in the ‘19 ZOZO and returns to Japan in razor-sharp form. Dating back to the end of the 2021-22 season, Im has put together a remarkable stretch of golf. Over his last six starts, he’s notched three runner-up finishes and three top-15s, including a T7 last week in Vegas. Sungjae has gained strokes T2G in six straight and leads this week’s ZOZO field in SG: T2G over his last 24 rounds.
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Keegan Bradley
- Event Scoring Average: 68.38
- Notable Event Finishes: T7 ('21), T13 ('19)
- DraftKings Price: $8,900 FanDuel Price: $9,900
The sample size is tiny, but Accordia has looked to be a ball-striker’s paradise in two prior ZOZO editions. That’s reflected in Keegan Bradley’s track record on this course, as he’s gone T7-T13 in his two previous trips to Japan.
Bradley’s strengths - and weaknesses - are well known to PGA DFS regulars. The Vermont native is consistently one of the PGA Tour’s best ball-strikers from year to year, but also one of the game’s worst putters. Over his last three full seasons, Bradley has finished an average of 20th on Tour in SG: Tee To Green and just 153rd in SG: Putting. Yuck. However, last season the veteran actually improved on the greens and logged his best statistical putting finish since the 2013-14 season.
After a 2022 campaign that featured top-10 finishes in both The Players Championship and the U.S. Open, the 36-year-old picked up right where he left off in his first Swing Season start two weeks ago. Bradley rolled the rock beautifully (+6.1 SG: Putting) en route to a T5 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. If he can keep some semblance of that putting stroke in tow this week, he should once again thrive on this legendary Japanese layout.
Adam Schenk
- Event Scoring Average: 69.25
- Notable Event Finishes: T28 ('21), T22 ('19)
- DraftKings Price: $6,900 FanDuel Price: $8,400
Limited-field events with no-cut formats such as this week's ZOZO often lend themselves to aggressive, "Stars & Scrubs" type builds. Adam Schenk represents an intriguing salary saver. He comes in with rock-solid results in two previous trips to Accordia Narashino Golf Club.
In addition to Schenk's pair of top-28 finishes in Japan, the Indiana native's arrow is pointing up. He comes into this year's edition on the heels of a strong T12 in last week's Shriners. Schenk's irons were firing on all cylinders at TPC Summerline, as he gained 5.6 strokes on Approach, a mark that was the sixth-best in the field for the week. While he doesn't carry the name recognition of many in this field, the 30-year-old stands out as a great value play on this unique slate.
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