We didn’t hit a winner at the Sanderson Farms Championship or the Shriners Children’s Open but had golfers in contention at both events. However, it hasn’t been too long since we’ve hit a winner, as Sahith Theegala came through for us at the Fortinet Championship in September.

We’ll look to get back in the winner’s circle this week at the Zozo Championship. This is an event that is near and dear to my heart for a few reasons.

First of all, I love watching golf in primetime, and the first tee time this week is set for 7:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday. This event typically draws the strongest field of any event in the fall, and this is the event that Tiger Woods famously won in 2019 after bogeying his first three holes.

Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club is a par-70 that is located just outside of Tokyo in Chiba, Japan. It measures just under 7,100 yards and has some very unique characteristics.

For starters, this isn’t your typical par-70, as there are three par-5s and five par-3s. The par-4s vary greatly in length, as none of them measure between 426 and 485 yards. There are also six doglegs on the course, which can cause some havoc.

Another unique aspect of many Japanese courses is that there are two green complexes on many of the holes. Obviously, only one will be in play on each hole, and golfers will get a free drop from the other green if they accidentally hit onto it.

With so many greens, they are naturally very small in size, which places an emphasis on approach and around the green play.

My key statistics for the week are Total Driving, Strokes Gained: Approach, Strokes Gained: Around the Green, Bogey Avoidance and Strokes Gained: Putting (preferably on Bentgrass).

That’s enough about the course — let’s get into this week’s bets!

Zozo Championship Picks

Adam Schenk +4500 (FanDuel)

Schenk is coming off of a missed cut at the Shriners, but it was on the number, and he actually gained 1.1 strokes on ball-striking for the week. He’s been in tremendous form all year, posting seven top-10 finishes since the start of March.

He possesses a lethal combination of being among the top 15 in this field in Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Putting. He also has strong course history as he’s played at Narashino Country Club in all three years it has hosted this event and never finished outside of the top 30.

I’m backing up this outright with a top-20 bet on Schenk at +150 on BetRivers.

Alex Noren +5500 (FanDuel)

Noren hasn’t had the best 2023 as a whole, but he found his footing late in the summer and found himself in contention last week in Las Vegas. He ended up finishing in a tie for third and gained 10.5 strokes from tee to green on the week.

He has plenty of experience playing golf all over the world and a strong track record at no-cut events in his career. In his only appearance here, he finished T18.

These are very long odds for a golfer with his upside, and I’m adding a bet on him to finish in the top 10 at +375 (bet365).

Mark Hubbard +9000 (FanDuel)

Hubbard is getting overlooked in all markets this week. He is coming off of a missed cut at the Shriners (on the number) and finished T66 here last year, so very few are willing to put their hard-earned money behind him.

However, I love the way his game is trending, and this could be a good course for his game. He’s one of the best in the field on approach, he’s top 30 around the green, and he loves Bentgrass greens.

More importantly, he has recently turned a weakness into a strength by improving with his driver. Over his last three starts, he has gained 8.1 strokes off the tee, which is his best three-event stretch in his career.

I’m also adding a top-20 bet on him at +200 on FanDuel.

Before placing your bet on Hubbard, make sure to use our FanDuel Sportsbook promo code available to new registrants for $200 in bonus bets!

Good luck this week.

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