Niall Lyons has three selections in the Zozo Championship this week in Narashino, Japan.
Zozo Championship
The PGA Tour heads back to Narashino this week, the scene of Tiger Woods' last victory on the tour back in October of 2019 at the Zozo Championship.
Those days looked confined to the history books now I'm afraid and the hope of another Woods triumph has faded into oblivion.
Nevertheless this is a lovely spectacle in Japan with Narashino being a worthy host, maybe even deserved of a much higher profile slot on the schedule.
The course is tree lined and demands a good deal of accuracy off the tee and on approach.
Although we haven't had strokes gained numbers produced here down the years we do have the traditional stats that when examined spells that greens in regulation is an important aspect of the task here.
The last three winners here have ranked no worse than third in that statistic and only the best iron players need apply here.
The greens are usually fast here and even without looking at results we can see with the eye that there is a strong resemblance to Augusta.
The first three home in 2019 (Woods, Matsuyama and McIlroy) are all Augusta specialists whilst Morikawa and Fowler are others who have shown solid form on both courses.
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Zozo Championship Tips
- 1.5pts each-way W.Zalatoris 35/1 (1/5 7) Betfair Sportsbook
- 1.5pts each-way Min Woo Lee 30/1 (1/5 7) Betfair Sportsbook
- 1.25pts each-way M.Homa 55/1 (1/4 5) Unibet, BetUK
Will Zalatoris at 35/1 (Seven Places)
Morikawa holds a very strong hand here but he is winless since the victory here last year and the 7/1 on offer looks easily passed over as a result.
Matsuyama looks ever so slightly the better option at a similar price but with him being prone to injury regularly I'd be reluctant to play him at single figure odds here.
Instead I'll take the chance on Will Zalatoris who showed some signs of life in late August. Following a long lay off Zalatoris looked to have clicked back into gear easily when finishing runner up at the Riviera then 4th at Bayhill.
Another strong performance followed at Augusta but it went downhill from there and he suffered another setback with a hip problem during the Rocket Mortgage which forced him to withdraw.
Just how much that effected the rest of his season is anyone's guess but 12th at the St Jude and 13th at the BMW was a solid end to the season and he'll have everything geared towards making the US Ryder Cup team in 2025.
His Augusta form is rock solid which bodes well for a trip around Narashino and although some doubts still remain to his fitness levels, plenty in this field are lightly races and it could be a chance for someone like Zalatoris to take advantage.
Min Woo Lee at 30/1 (Seven Places)
Min Woo Lee warmed up for this event a couple of weeks ago by going to the Asian Tour and finishing 9th in the Macao Open.
Rounds of 68-68-67-66 was a promising return and having 6th here on debut last year looks a decent price to make another bold fist of it this time around.
He prepared exactly the same last year by going to the Macao Open and winning and that was the catalyst for a really solid run in Australia a few weeks later.
I'm never too keen to play Min Woo on venues that require top notch iron play but through the St Jude and the Procore his approach play improved and it has been a misfiring putter that has hurt him more than most recently.
That is the club most likely to come back to form, especially on these faster greens and Lee has putted extremely well on his three visits to date to Augusta.
With Kitayama a good deal shorter and Hossler the same price I can't help but feel Min Woo is a solid bet in this range and he could make this time of year his own once again.
Max Homa at 55/1 (Five Places)
I'll take the risk on the upside of Max Homa's price that if he should bounce back to form we'd be sitting on a lovely wager.
Homa has struggled this year but a trip to the Presidents Cup has every chance of making him feel like he 'belongs' again and Narashino looks a good fit for his game.
His only trip here back in 2019 was nothing special but he was playing fairly well before a final round of 75 saw him plummet down the leaderboard.
Augusta was scene of his best Major finish earlier in the year when 3rd behind Scheffler and Aberg.
The season nosedived shortly after that but it's not all doom and gloom. Homa produced an incredible week with the irons back at the BMW in late August but was thwarted by a bad week off the tee and on the greens.
It was no easy ride at the Presidents Cup either but he did shoot 7 on the scorecard on Sunday to beat Mackenzie Hughes 2&1.
Top class golfers are always worth a glance when the slip down the betting board as they are never too far away from regaining their place in the game and Homa certainly looks an interesting play around a track like Narashino.
