This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP
Chiba, Japan
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club - Par 70 - 7,079 yards
Field - 78 entrants
Purse - $8.5M
The Preview
We've reached the midpoint of the eight-event FedExCup Fall as the PGA Tour embarks on an international voyage from Las Vegas to Japan this week, with Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club playing host to the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP for the fifth time since the event's inception in 2019. Although the par-70 layout measures less than 7,100 yards, tree-lined fairways and a handful of doglegs make the course play a bit longer than it looks on paper. Scoring is likely to be significantly more difficult here than we saw at TPC Summerlin over the weekend, but with 72 guaranteed holes for all 78 entrants, birdie and eagle chances are going to be especially important from a DFS perspective. Iron play is typically the name of the game at Narashino as the limited field makes an effort to select the best angles into small bentgrass greens, in addition to the five par-3s that lurk on the scorecard.
Recent Champions
2023 - Collin Morikawa
2022 - Keegan Bradley
2021 - Hideki Matsuyama
2020 - Patrick Cantlay (Sherwood CC)
2019 - Tiger Woods
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach
SG: Off-the-Tee
Par-3 efficiency
Birdie or Better percentage
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Xander Schauffele - $45
Yahoo's pricing is mostly back to normal this week with Schauffele reaching the $45 salary ceiling as a +450 tournament betting favorite, though it's still an extremely affordable tag, especially considering the no-cut nature that inflates the feasibility of stars-and-scrubs lineup builds. Schauffele went Win-T2-T5-T4 from The Open Championship through the TOUR Championship to close out his summer, and he's top-3 in each of SG: Tee-to-Green, SG: Putting, Par-3 Efficiency and proximity from 200-plus yards over his last 36 measured rounds.
Hideki Matsuyama - $43
Competing with Schauffele from a statistical standpoint, Matsuyama is No. 1 in SG: T2G and second in both overall proximity and Prox: 175-200 within that 36-round sample. Matsuyama posted a second-place effort back home on native soil at the 2019 ZOZO Championship before winning here two years later when he hit six more greens in regulation (59-of-72 GIR) than anyone else in the field.
Glue Guys
Kurt Kitayama - $31
Kitayama has earned a lot of steam in betting markets this week after gaining at least 11.2 strokes from tee to green in three of his last four starts dating back to a sixth-place effort at the 3M Open. He's coming off a top-10 result at the Shriners Children's Open where he averaged five birdies per round while ranking second among the field in SG: APP, third in GIR percentage and third in scrambling. Kitayama has been terrible with the flat stick in four of his eight rounds to begin the FedExCup Fall, so he'll need to avoid any of those dreadful putting performances this week in order to contend.
Beau Hossler - $31
Fatigue could become a factor for Hossler after placing 2-T11-T23 in consecutive weeks from the Sanderson Farms Championship through the Shriners Children's Open, but he's clearly playing some great golf right now, as evidenced by his No. 2 ranking in Birdies or Better Gained over his last 24 rounds. Hossler gained a season-high 6.2 strokes on the greens in Las Vegas last week, ultimately firing back-to-back 66s to close out the weekend. Additionally, he tied for second here in Japan last year after claiming the 36-hole lead by himself.
Bargain Bin
J.J. Spaun - $22
Spaun gained strokes both off the tee and with his irons for a fifth straight event last week at the Shriners, gaining an average of 6.1 strokes from tee to green per tournament throughout these past five starts. He tied for sixth here last year at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. as one of just two players to break 70 in all four rounds.
Doug Ghim - $20
Ghim FINALLY gained strokes putting for the first time since May at last week's Shriners Children's Open, and he was rewarded with runner-up honors while also pacing the field in SG: APP and GIR percentage en route to 26 total birdies and an eagle. He's striking the ball way too well to land at the minimum $20 salary, sitting No. 1 in each of SG: APP, overall proximity and Opportunities Gained over his past 24 rounds.
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