After watching Tom Kim defend his title at the Shriners Children’s Open, next on the PGA TOUR schedule is the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, which will be played at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club (par 70, 7,079 yards, Bentgrass greens) in Chiba, Japan. The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP debuted on the PGA TOUR in 2019, and Accordia has hosted every edition of this event, except in 2020, when it was held at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, due to the pandemic. A year ago, Keegan Bradley won the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP at 15-under one shot clear of Rickie Fowler.
Accorida is a unique parkland track. Like many Japanese golf courses, Accordia features two greens on each hole, with one designed to be used during the summer and the other during the winter. Another rare characteristic of this venue is that Accordia is an untraditional par 70 that is home to three par-5s, five par-3s and 10 par-4s.
The Bentgrass greens at this tree-lined course are small and being in pristine form with your irons is the most important ingredient for success at Accordia, with all three of the winners at this venue ranking top-three in SG: Approach during their victories. On top of the usual heavy weight on par-4 scoring, we need to be also targeting strong par-3 players this week, given Accordia presents five par-3s. Of the three ZOZO champions at this track, two have led their fields in par-3 efficiency.
The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP features no cut and a limited field of 78 golfers, with 16 of the top 50 ranked players in the world making the trip to Japan this week. The favorite to win this tournament on the DraftKings Sportsbook is Xander Schauffele (+700), who notably won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has carded two top-10s in three starts at AccordIa. While listed at a slate-high $11,100, building around the 29-year-old and taking the stars and scrubs approach is my preferred strategy this week, and below, I break down my four favorite sub $7.5K DraftKings value plays that will help you afford Schauffele.
Joel Dahmen ($7,200) – After posting a T13 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, Dahmen kept his foot on the gas this past week at the Shriners Open, finishing T7. During that latter finish, the bucket hat wearing veteran put on a show as a ball striker at TPC Summerlin, ranking fifth in SG: Tee-to-Green and 11th in SG: Approach for the event. Notably, the 10.0 strokes Dahmen gained from tee-to-green are the most he has produced in the category in over three years. To put a cherry on top, Dahmen led the entire field at the Shriners Open in par-4 efficiency.
If the 35-year-old can in anyway carry over this momentum to Accordia, Dahmen should beat his cheap salary with ease, potentially with another top-15 finish. In just his second appearance at the par 70 last year, Dahmen finished T16th.
Cameron Champ ($7,100) – Champ is having an excellent fall swing, with his last two starts being a T9 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and then a T18 at the Shriners Open last week. Impressively, the bomber gained strokes on approach at both these events and he shot under par in all but one round during this stretch. These back-to-back high finishes have vaulted Champ 50 spots in the world golf rankings and he will now look to continue this terrific run at Accordia, where the 28-year-old finished eighth in his debut at the Japanese track last season.
Champ is vastly underpriced for his +5000 odds to win the Zozo Championship on the DraftKings Sportsbook – these are the same odds as Emiliano Grillo, who is far more expensive for DFS at $8,600 – and is a very difficult fade this week.
Sam Ryder ($7,000) – Ryder finished T7 at Accordia two years ago and brings great upside again this time around. The 33-year-old has made six straight cuts – including four finishes inside the top-31 – thanks to some impressive ball-striking. Ryder gained strokes on approach at all six of these events and notably ranks first in the metric when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds.
Additionally during this time, he ranks fourth in BOB% and 10th in DKFP. Ryder has finished inside the top 15 in back-to-back starts at courses that present Bentgrass greens and is a must play at this low price tag.
KH Lee ($6,900) – At the Shriners Open last week, Lee impressed with a T7 finish, while gaining strokes in every major category. The 32-year-old has now tallied a top-15 finish in two of his last three starts and has gained at least 2.8 strokes on approach during both of these high finishes. If Lee can maintain this elite ball-striking at Accordia, he has the potential to destroy this low salary with a top-20 finish.
Lee carded a T18 at this course two years ago and this is the cheapest he has ever priced for a ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP on DraftKings by a whopping $1,800.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Sand Trap [$100K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
