We had another great showing with our PGA DFS player pool at the Shriners Children’s Open last week. Tom Kim emerged victorious, defending his title. Course history continues to prove to be the secret sauce to building rosters at the Shriners.
We are headed to Japan this week for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, and this sets up to be an entertaining week. The tournament should be less of a birdie fest and more of a grind. Much like last week, though, course knowledge and strong strategy may prove to be the differentiator when putting together a winning lineup.
PGA DFS: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP 2023
Course Breakdown
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club
- Chiba, Japan
- Par-70
- 7,080 Yards
- Bentgrass Greens
- Bermuda and Zoysia Greens
This week, we are live and direct from Chiba, Japan, at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club is maybe one of the stranger courses these golfers will play on Tour. The course itself measures shorter than most but will play longer than the 7,080 yards would indicate. The layout itself is atypical for a par 70 with five par 3’s, 10 par 4’s and three par 5s.
The course also features duel greens on each hole. The greens are typically reserved for the time of year: Bentgrass in the winter and Bermuda/Zoysia in the summer. That said, we may see a mix of both surfaces this week. The greens are also much smaller than Tour average and tend to be tough to hold. The green complexes feature bunkers and steep run-offs. Accuracy is at a premium here, both off the tee and on approach. The hole shape and forced landing areas deemphasize distance and will pay dividends to those golfers who can shape and place tee shots, leaving themselves in position for optimal approach shots.
Stats to Build Around:
- Shots Gained Approach
- Good Drives Gained
- Bogey Avoidance
- Shots gained Scrambling
- Shots Gained Par 3’s
- Strokes Gained Putting
DFS Strategy
Much like last week at the Shriners Children’s Championship, I am looking for a very specific type of player and will again have a more condensed player pool. Likely, I will be building with 20 or so players. This is a tough course that requires precision and consistency.
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club does not strike me as a place where someone will get lucky for four straight days and come out of nowhere to win the tournament. We have had very notable golfers win in the past. Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama and Tiger Woods won the last three times the event was held at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. The approach game will be critical, and I recommend looking at golfers who can get up and down as a complementary skill set. Greens will be missed, and this may boil down to how well your roster can recover day in and day out.
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 DFS Plays
(Prices courtesy of DraftKings)
High-Tier Plays ($9,000 & Above)
- Collin Morikawa ($10,800)
- Sungjae Im ($10,200)
- Rickie Fowler ($10,000)
- Min Woo Lee ($9,100)
High-Tier Fades ($9,000 & Above)
- Cameron Davis ($9,500)
- Adam Scott ($9,300)
- Sahith Theegala ($9,000)
Mid-Tier Plays ($7,600-$8,900)
- Eric Cole ($8,900)
- Adam Svensson ($8,200)
- Ben Griffin ($7,700)
- Mark Hubbard ($7,600)
Mid-Tier Fades ($7,600-$8,900)
- Emiliano Grillo ($8,600)
- Beau Hossler ($8,500)
- Vincent Norrman ($8,400)
- Keith Mitchell ($8,300)
- Matt Wallace ($7,700)
Low-Tier Plays ($7,500 & Below)
- Sam Ryder ($7,000)
- Dylan Wu ($7,000)
- Ryutaro Nagano ($6,500)
- Justin Lower ($6,400)
Low-Tier Fades ($7,500 & Below)
- Akshay Bhatia ($7,400)
- Cam Champ ($7,100)
- K.H. Lee ($6,900)
- Matthew NeSmith ($6,800)
- Kevin Yu ($6,600)
Good luck this week! Thanks for checking out my PGA DFS picks for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, and be sure to check us out live every Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on the 19th Hole Live!
*Photo Credit: David Yeazell – USA TODAY Sports*