ZOZO Championship betting tips as Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim top the market
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Published 12/10/2022 at 09:16 GMT
Star names from the PGA Tour return to Japan for the ZOZO Championship and are sure to receive a warm welcome. The tournament has been on the calendar for three years, and Hideki Matsuyama will tee it up looking to defend the title he won at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club 12 months ago. He is among the favourites, with the betting headed by Xander Schauffele.
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Tom Kim was unknown to many in golf a little over a year ago but is now a household name and a two-time PGA Tour winner.
After his brilliant showing at the Presidents Cup, Kim won his second PGA Tour event when outgunning Patrick Cantlay to win the Shriners Children’s Open.
To go toe-to-toe with a player of the stature of Cantlay and force him into an error, on the 18th tee, and it can only be down to the pressure of his opponent not wilting, shows the quality Kim has in the locker.
He swings the club beautifully, has a nifty short game, possesses maturity which belies his tender years and wields the putter like a wizard would a magic wand.
Kim pretty much has the full package. If he can add 20 yards off the tee in the way Matt Fitzpatrick did, he would have the golfing world at his feet.
The 20-year-old from South Korea has flown from Las Vegas to Japan for the ZOZO Championship, and the bookmakers have taken note of his rise through the ranks.
In what is a high-class, limited-number field at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Kim is trading at 12/1 - with only Xander Schauffele, Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama ahead of him in the betting.
Riding a wave of confidence, we would not put anyone off sticking with Kim once again but going back-to-back is not easy and we’ll look elsewhere.
Many will be drawn to Matsuyama as the defending champion, and a player of huge quality. Course knowledge is of huge benefit, and he will have the backing of the galleries, but the nagging worry is the 2021 Masters champion’s lack of form.
He opened 2022 with victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii and finished an excellent fourth at the US Open. But since his superb showing behind Fitzpatrick at Brookline, Matsuyama has been extremely inconsistent.
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After withdrawing from the 3M Open due to injury, he followed up with an excellent 11th place at the Tour Championship. That looked set to ignite the fire for the Presidents Cup, but once again he was dogged by inconsistency.
It could be argued he has been knocked out of kilter by the persistent links to LIV Golf, and it all adds up to him being too short a price at 11/1.
He could be inspired on home soil the way Jon Rahm was in winning the Open de Espana, but the percentage play is to look elsewhere.
Schauffele heads the betting at 8/1, but of those towards the top of the market, we like the look of Im.
The South Korean just loves to play tournament golf. And for much of the second half of 2022, he has been in blistering form.
3M Open: tied second, Wyndham Championship: tied second, Tour Championship: tied second. If consistency is what you want in a golfer, Im is your man.
He was seventh behind his fellow countryman in Vegas last weekend and finished third behind Woods on his one previous visit to the venue.
Im’s short game is as good as any player in the game and will likely come into play on a course that has small greens, and the whole package points to him being an each-way punt at 11/1.
Keegan Bradley is the second play, with the American extremely tempting at 28/1.
Bradley has been trending in the right direction for some time and his game is well-suited to the venue.
He is one of the best drivers of the ball in golf and with three par-fives and a series of long par-fours, getting the ball out there will be a potent weapon.
Bradley has played well on the international stage and more tellingly likes the course, demonstrated by him holding a share of the course record.
He finished in a tie for seventh last year, made the trip to Japan on the back of a fifth place at the Sanderson Farms Championship, and we like the look of a player who will have an eye on Ryder Cup qualification - so locking up points early in the process will be to his advantage.
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