PGA DFS Core Plays - DraftKings & FanDuel: ZOZO Championship
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS plays at various salary ranges for the coming week’s golf tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
ZOZO Championship
Tom Kim took down Patrick Cantlay for the second time in the last few weeks and won the Shriners Children’s Open. This is his second PGA Tour win before turning 21 years old, which is truly a special accomplishment. He’s gone from a fun story to a superstar in a matter of a few months. We now turn our attention to the first no-cut event of the swing season. The ZOZO Championship will be held at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Japan. The course is a Par 70 that measures just under 7,100 yards. The layout is a bit unique in that there are three par fives and five par threes. It’s also unique because there isn’t a single par four that measures between 426 and 485 yards. There are five short par fours and five long par fours.
The course is a classical parklands that has tree-lined fairways and a number of doglegs. The fairways are tough to hit on average and while distance isn’t a prerequisite, it has played more of a role at this course than most Par 70s. Ultimately, focusing on a mix of accuracy and distance is likely the best bet. As is the case with many courses in Japan, there are two greens on a number of the holes. We will likely see them used interchangeably throughout the tournament. The fairways and rough both feature zoysiagrass, while the greens are pure bentgrass. The greens are small, they are difficult to hit, and they will be rather slow (around 10.5 on the stimpmeter).
We only have two years of data to work with when it comes to this course. This event was not held here in 2020 (COVID). The two editions that were held here were won by Tiger Woods and Hideki Matsuyama. We probably shouldn’t draw too many conclusions based on two winners of an event, but both golfers are elite with their irons, they are both very good around the green, and they both play difficult golf courses well. This course was in the top 15 of difficulty in both 2019 and 2021.
Downloadable and Customizable Model for the ZOZO Championship
Tournament Info
Field Size:
- 78 golfers
Cut Rule:
- No cut
Weather Forecasts
Key Statistics
- Strokes Gained Approach
- Strokes Gained Around the Green
- Total Driving
- Birdie or Better %
- Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bentgrass)