The ZOZO Championship is next on the PGA Tour calendar, check out all of our latest golf odds and markets including Jason Daniels’ best bets for the upcoming tournament:
Sahith Theegala – 18/1
Tom Hoge – 66/1
Ryo Hisatsune Top-20 19/10
Keita Nakajima Top-20 2/1
We may only have had three outings at the short, tricky Narashino track, but it seems pretty clear what is required to prove number one in the Greater Area of Tokyo.
Inaugural champion Tiger Woods never needs an intro, and neither does the man he beat, 2021 Zozo victor Hideki Matsuyama. Those two, of course, have a green jacket in the Butler Cabin, whilst last year’s winner Keegan Bradley is also a major winner, tucking away the 2011 PGA Championship.
Equally, course form seems a requisite, Deki improving on his debut by a place, Bradley going 12/7/1 in his three starts, and the likes of Joel Dahman, Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa and Matt NeSmith amongst a dozen in the field that improved for a first look.
None of the top six in the market would shock with a win, with many feeling very much at home in Japan, but I start my card with the popular Sahith Theegala, who has been spending some time in the Far East acclimatising after his maiden individual victory.
There are enough top college players that don’t make it, but signs were good from the get-go as the former Pepperdine student finished his final two Korn Ferry events with a pair of top six placings. Within six weeks, he led the Sanderson Farm Championship to the run-in and, in February 2022, again led a full PGA field to the stretch at the Phoenix Open, a cruel bounce costing him the chance of a win or a place at the resulting play-off.
Both those pieces of form stand strong with many of the combatants over the past three years, that eighth place at Jackson correlating with Bradley’s top five, third-place Emiliano Grillo’s fifth place and 2021 runners-up Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale. As for Arizona, both Deki and last year’s runner-up Rickie Fowler can lay claim to the trophy and further medal finishes.
Theegala has since continued to improve his status, rising to a place inside the top-30 in the world. Contributing to that are top-10 finishes at the tree-lined Valspar, River Highlands, Riviera and Hilton Head, but it’s efforts at Silverado that also give his chance much impetus this week.
2015 Fry’s Open winner Grillo is a boost, as is Steele’s back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. To finish it off, last year’s Zozo 8th, Cameron Champ, won his maiden at Silverado by an easy four shots. With the selection having four outings at the Napa track, improving results of 14/47/6/1 give credence to his claims as, of course, does his one and only outing at Augusta, a fast-closing ninth place finish.
On debut last year the selection improved throughout the event, ending the first round in 41st place but finishing strongly with a 63/67 weekend that saw him finish inside the top five. It won’t take a lot more to contend strongly this week and, with no apparent ceiling, Theegala could very soon be yet another major contender.
Tom Hoge was strongly fancied last week on the back of two quietly impressive displays at tree-lined Wentworth and 13th in Mississippi. Whilst things didn’t go according to plan, the 34-year-old ranked 18th for approaches in his first 18 holes before Friday just wasn’t to be.
I’m never fussed about one average round in ten outings and, as a player ranked highly for iron play from 150 to 200 yards, he needs a careful watch on a track that will call for accuracy with the longer clubs.
The 34-year-old may only have won the AT&T at Pebble Beach in 2022 but has top three finishes at the Sony Open and Sawgrass, whilst further relevance comes from leading finishes at Summerlin, and at the RSM and American Express.
Ironically, Hoge’s only other win on the ‘tour’ was alongside Theegala at the QBE Shootout, a pairs event at which both peppered the flags in a final round 62. He looks close to contending again after a solid six events following The Open and has already progressed from 17th to ninth place around this track. The 66/1 simply looks too big.
The fancy prices have all but gone for early bet Ryo Hisatsune, but we should watch him and fellow young superstar Keita Nakajima over the coming months as they will be stars at a higher level.
The first named has progressed from Q-school, through five top-10s and finally a maiden DPWT victory in France, whilst Nakajima is a couple of years older but spent a lifetime as the world’s leading amateur (before the stud that is Ludvig Aberg), winning two Japan Tour events in his first full season.
As expected of two so inexperienced on the big stage, both players have improved in their two outings here, Ryo from 52nd to 12th and Nakajima from 28th to the same position a year later.
With a place on the PGA Tour almost in the bag – holding the seventh of 10 cards available on the DPWT rankings list – Ryo may expect to see his compatriot on the PGA Tour soon enough. At the terms, I wanted closer to 90/1 for both for win purposes, but at around 2/1 for a top-20 finish, just one will land a profit.
18+ | BeGambleAware.org
