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Hello RotoBaller PGA crew! It's great to be back with you guys and I appreciate you joining us here at RotoBaller for another Swing Season event. This week the PGA Tour travels across the globe to Japan for the ZOZO Championship. This is a limited-field event with a no-cut format.
In this article, we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for the ZOZO Championship. While it's impossible to hit on every player, we'll touch on some different plays across all price ranges, breaking the groups down into "High", "Mid", and "Low" price options that are worth considering.
Like always, the purpose of this piece is to help you put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups for FanDuel, whether that be from a GPP perspective or a cash-game mentality. Be sure to also read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS and betting articles to help you win big!
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ZOZO Championship - PGA DFS Overview
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club
7,041 Yards - Par 70 - Greens: Bent - Designer: Kinya Fujita
Opened in 1965, Narashino is one of the most highly-regarded golf clubs in Japan. Short by modern standards at just over 7,000 yards, this is a fairly tight, tree-lined layout - a style 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. Uniquely, this course has two different greens for every hole in order to adjust to Japan's seasonal climates and I expect the same greens - the Bentgrass ones - that were utilized in 2019 to be put into play again in this edition. We'll also see five Par-3s and just three Par-5s this week, so I will pay a little extra attention to Par-3 scoring for the ZOZO.
Despite its short length, Narashino didn't appear to be a course that could be overpowered in the 2020 ZOZO, as we saw generational iron players, Tiger Woods & Hideki Matsuyama, succeed with precision and accuracy. That's the direction I'll take this week by favoring Total Driving over Driving Distance, as well as leaning on SG: Approach and Proximity.
For an in-depth breakdown of this week's course, check out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett!
Let's Look At The Stats
| Stat | Narashino CC | Tour Average |
| Driving Distance | N/A | 282 |
| Driving Accuracy | N/A | 62% |
| GIR Percentage | N/A | 65% |
| Scrambling Percentage | N/A | 57% |
| Average Three-Putts Per Round | N/A | 0.55 |
Key Stats
- SG: Approach
- Good Drives Gained
- Total Driving
- Par-3 Scoring
- Overall Proximity
Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for FanDuel (PGA DFS)
We have tons of great weekly PGA articles, DFS analysis, tools and DFS advice. Be sure to read our other fantastic articles regarding this week's event including DFS lineup picks for DraftKings/FanDuel, betting advice and DFS prop picks.
High-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays
Collin Morikawa ($12,000)
I'm taking a fairly straightforward approach this week. This is a no-cut event with only a handful of elite options, so I'll be jamming in as many studs as possible. That starts with Collin Morikawa, who heads to Japan fresh off a blistering final-round 62 in last week's CJ Cup. Morikawa is one of the few in this week's ZOZO field that actually has some experience on this Narashino layout - he logged a T22 in the 2020 edition - and this short, tight-ish golf course is truly tailor-made for his game. The young star's long-term metrics are mind-boggling...he ranks first in this field in SG: Approach, Ball Striking, T2G, & Total, while also standing first in Good Drives & GIRs Gained. Simply put, he's a once-in-a-generation caliber ball striker and is where I will start the majority of my PGA DFS lineups this week.
Xander Schauffele ($11,900)
Like the aforementioned Morikawa, Xander Schauffele is also coming off a scorching final-round performance at the CJ Cup, as he fired a final-round 63 in Vegas to finish in a share of 18th place. He'll bring that positive momentum to a layout that is a better overall fit for his game than the Summit Club (translation: less of a birdie fest). Also like Morikawa, Schauffele is both an elite player and has Narashino experience under his belt (T10 in 2020), a hard combination to find in this week's player pool. Needless to say, I'll be leaning heavily on the X-Man this week.
Hideki Matsuyama ($11,700)
Hideki comes into the week with the ultimate "home-court advantage", as the Japanese superstar is intimately familiar with both Narashino Country Club and the overall style of Japanese courses. However, he is currently struggling with a familiar problem...an ice-cold putter. He lost a mind-boggling 9.6 strokes on the greens in Las Vegas last week - the third-worst performance of his entire career - and he's now lost strokes putting in each of his last five starts and eight of his last 10. Perhaps he can turn things around on Narashino's ultra-pure greens this week and I expect him to once again perform well in his home country due to his ball-striking ability and comfort level on this layout where he scored a solo second to Tiger Woods in the 2020 ZOZO.
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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays
Emiliano Grillo ($10,000)
A little bit of form, a little bit of course history, and a whole lot of volatility. That's where we find ourselves with Emiliano Grillo this week. Unfortunately, the volatility is also applicable to basically the entire salary scale on this slate, so I'll take a shot with the sharp ball striker from Argentina. Grillo heads to Japan on the heels of a T18 in last week's CJ Cup. It marked his third consecutive made cut. Unsurprisingly, Grillo has gained strokes both OTT and on Approach in each of those three starts, but unsurprisingly, he has struggled with the flat stick, losing strokes on the greens in two of his last three starts and nine of his last 10. The balky putter makes him tough to trust, but I do like his borderline-elite T2G ability on this Narashino layout - and the potential upside that would come with a decent putting week - enough to slot him into my GPP player pool.
C.T. Pan ($9,700)
C.T. Pan isn't a player that I always have in consideration, but I'm extremely interested in him on this week's tight, 7,000-yard layout. Pan's recent play has been excellent, he's gone T6-T11 in his most recent starts at the Fortinet & Sanderson. Those results have been spurred by his iron play. Pan has gained a combined 7.7 strokes on Approach over his last two. He also grades out rock-solid OTT, ranking 32nd in Good Drives Gained. We can toss in a little bit of experience on this week's layout - T59 in 2020 ZOZO - as a factor that puts Pan squarely into play on this slate.
Adam Schenk ($9,300)
Adam Schenk is a viable GPP option for me. He posted a respectable T22 in the '20 edition of the ZOZO, and in addition to the Narashino experience, the former Purdue Boilermaker has displayed some upside as of late. Schenk scored a T3 at the Shriners two weeks ago and also posted a notable top-five finish at the John Deere in July. The 29-year-old was actually in a great position to win both of those events before underwhelming final-round performances in each instance. Perhaps he can take the next step this week on a golf course that suits his skill set. He grades out 14th in the field in Good Drives Gained and is proficient on both Par-3s (18th in SG: Par-3) and Par-4s (21st SG: Par-4).
Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players
Harry Higgs ($8,900)
Like the majority of players on this slate below $10k, Harry Higgs is a golfer that's plagued by inconsistency. However, "Big Beautiful" heads to Japan on something of a heater. He scored a nice T9 last week in Vegas, as well as a T27 in his previous start at the Shriners. The strength of his game is his immaculate short game - first in the field in SG: Around The Green - but my interest is piqued by the fact that his irons appear to be firing. Higgs gained just over four strokes on Approach last week in the CJ Cup and it marked his second consecutive start with positive iron splits. It's a "ride the hot hand" type of play, but I like the upside he brings to the table at this sub-$9k price point.
Troy Merritt ($8,300)
Troy Merritt has some Narashino experience under his belt - he posted a T30 in the 2020 ZOZO - and the two-time PGA Tour winner isn't too far removed from playing some really good golf. He put together a nice string of results in the summer, posting three top-10 finishes in the month of May. That stretch culminated with a runner-up finish at the Rocket Mortgage in July, when he lost in a playoff to Cameron Davis. Merritt has been relatively quiet since but did pop up to log a T16 at the Fortinet Championship in the fall season opener. His game revolves around accuracy rather than length - he ranks 12th in Fairways Gained & 19th in Good Drives Gained - and this 7,000-ish yard layout is one that he has the ability to handle well.
Ryosuke Kinoshita ($7,600)
We'll close things out this week with a player that's likely unknown to most American golf fans. Ryosuke Kinoshita spends his time on the Japan Golf Tour and has been simply fabulous in JGTO competition this season, racking up two victories and piling up nine top-10 finishes. At 30-years-old, Kinoshita might not bring the same level of excitement as some other Japanese players available on this week's slate - Takumi Kanaya & Keita Nakajima are a couple of young potential Japanese superstars - but his game might just be the most polished and ready to contend in an event like the ZOZO. Kinoshita made the cut in both the Open Championship and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude event earlier this year, demonstrating that he has the ability to succeed outside of the Japan Golf Tour.
Win Big With RotoBaller
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