The PGA TOUR travels to Japan this week for the Zozo Championship. Located in Chiba, the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club (par 70, 7,079 yards, bentgrass greens) is the site of this event, which has hosted four of the five Zozo Championships since the tournament debuted in 2019. That lone outlier was in 2020 when the Zozo Championship was played at Sherwood Country Club in California due to the pandemic. By a whopping six shots, Collin Morikawa (-14) won the Zozo Championship at Accordia CC last season. As always, this event will feature no cut this week and this is a field of 78 golfers.
Accordia CC is a short parkland course, that is tree-lined and features thin rough, small greens, 71 bunkers and water in play on five holes. Accordia is a rare par 70, that features 10 par fours, five par threes and three par fives. Being long isn’t necessary at this track and to win at Accordia CC, you need to be in terrific form with your irons, with every victor at this venue finishing the Zozo Championship top-three in GIR%. On top of the usual heavy weight on par four efficiency, seeking out strong par three players is also a wise move, with Accorida home to five par threes. Of the four winners at this untraditional par 70, two have led their fields in par three efficiency and one has finished runner-up in the category.
Below, I break down three of my favorite sub $7.5K DraftKings bargain plays for the Zozo Championship.
Mac Meissner ($7,400) – Despite no previous history at Accordia, Meissner is one of the best targets on the board for the Zozo Championship. The 25-year-old has been very consistent, making seven of his last eight cuts, with five of these finishes being top-25 results. Meissner’s success can be mostly attributed to his excellent ball striking, with him ranking 18th in SG APP for the season and gaining strokes on approach in consecutive starts. In fact, during his T25 at the Black Desert Championship in his most recent start, Meissner finished the event third in SG APP, gaining a career-best 7.4 strokes in the metric.
If the youngster can in any way replicate this performance this week, he should thrive at Accordia, which is a course that requires strong play with your irons.
Matt Kuchar ($7,400) – Kuchar heads to Japan in awesome form. Coming off a T14 at the Shriners Children’s Open last week, the veteran has finished inside the top-15 in four of his past five starts. Notably at TPC Summerlin last week, Kuchar gained strokes in every major category for the first time this season.
Additionally, the 46-year-old ranks first in par four efficiency and seventh in SG APP when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds. Kuchar’s game is clearly firing on all cylinders right now and he is a very difficult fade at this low salary, regardless that this will be his debut at Accordia CC.
Ryo Hisatune ($7,300) – Hisatune loves competing in his homeland, especially at Accordia CC, finishing T12th and T4th at the track the last two years. Overall, the Japanese professional has shot under par in seven of his 12 rounds at Accorida CC. Now, Hisatune returns to the unique par 70 finishing T3rd, MC and T25th in his last three starts, while gaining strokes with his irons and putter during both of those high finishes.
Hisatune has the potential for his third straight top-15 finish at Accordia CC in this type of form and is a standout option at this cheap price tag.
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.
