The fourth edition of the Zozo Championship will take place this week in an event that is co-sanctioned between the PGA Tour and the Japan Tour. There have been several memorable winners already, including Tiger Woods in the inaugural edition and hometown hero Hideki Matsuyama last year. Woods won in wire-to-wire fashion in 2019, while Matsuyama was in second place after the opening round and moved into first place after round two. Should you focus on the early leaders with your 2022 Zozo Championship live bets?
Xander Schauffele enters the Zozo Championship 2022 as the 9-1 favorite, but he will have to deal with other contenders such as Sungjae Im (9-1), Tom Kim (14-1) and Matsuyama (14-1). Collin Morikawa is another capable golfer listed at 14-1 in the 2022 Zozo Championship odds. Before locking in your 2022 Zozo Championship picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, the model is up over $9,500 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure’s model included J.T. Poston in its best bets to win the 2022 John Deere Classic. That bet hit at +5500, and for the entire tournament, McClure’s best bets returned almost $1,100. At the 2022 Masters, McClure’s model was all over Scottie Scheffler’s first career major championship victory heading into the weekend.
In addition, McClure’s best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright at the 2021 Open Championship, even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. The model was also all over Jon Rahm’s (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner.
This same model has also nailed a whopping eight majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2022 Zozo Championship field is locked, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
Top 2022 Zozo Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2022 Zozo Championship: Matsuyama, the defending champion and one of the top favorites at 14-1, stumbles this week and doesn’t even crack the top-10. Matsuyama won the Zozo Championship last season by five strokes, closing with a 65 to capture his seventh title on the PGA Tour.
However, Matsuyama was extremely inconsistent with his putter last season, ranking 91st in total putting (201.8), 114th in strokes gained: putting (-.028) and 121st in 3-putt avoidance (3.01%). In addition, the 30-year-old finished the 2021-22 season ranked 110th in driving accuracy percentage (59.37%), which doesn’t bode well for his chances to repeat this week. He’s not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in the Zozo Championship 2022 field.
Another surprise: Corey Conners, a 26-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. Conners has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. He put together an excellent stretch to close out his 2021-22 PGA Tour season, finishing inside the top 30 in five straight events.
Conners secured a T-5 finish at the BMW Championship along with finishing in sixth-place at the RBC Canadian Open and the Masters. He has an opportunity to kickstart his 2022-23 season this weekend, especially since it is a beatable field. Conners played well at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in his lone visit there in 2019, finishing in sixth place in the inaugural Zozo Championship. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2022 Zozo Championship picks
The model is also targeting three other golfers with odds of 25-1 or longer who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big. You can only see the model’s PGA picks here.
So who will win the Zozo Championship 2022? And which longshots stun the golfing world? Check out the 2022 Zozo Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2022 Zozo Championship leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed eight golf majors, including this year’s Masters.
2022 Zozo Championship odds, field
See full Zozo Championship 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Xander Schaufele 9-1
Sungjae Im 12-1
Hideki Matsuyama 14-1
Collin Morikawa 14-1
Tom Kim 16-1
Cameron Young 19-1
Viktor Hovland 21-1
Tommy Fleetwood 26-1
Corey Conners 26-1
Tyrrell Hatton 27-1
Si Woo Kim 31-1
Saith Theegala 31-1
Davis Riley 37-1
Sebastian Munoz 37-1
Tom Hoge 37-1
Keegan Bradley 37-1
Sepp Straka 37-1
Scott Stallings 40-1
Cameron Davis 42-1
Mito Pereira 42-1
MacKenzie Hughes 42-1
Maverick McNealy 42-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 45-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 45-1
Brendan Steele 45-1
Matthew NeSmith 45-1
Lucas Herbert 45-1
Emiliano Grillo 55-1
Rickie Fowler 55-1
J.J. Spaun 55-1
Luke List 60-1
Andrew Putnam 60-1
Mark Hubbard 65-1
Aaron Rai 70-1
Hayden Buckley 70-1
Adam Svensson 80-1
Adam Schenk 80-1
Taylor Moore 80-1
Kurt Kitayama 80-1
Wyndham Clark 80-1
Cameron Champ 80-1
Stephan Jaeger 80-1
Alex Smalley 80-1
Russell Knox 95-1
Joel Damen 95-1
Dylan Frittelli 95-1
Kevin Streelman 95-1
Matt Wallace 95-1
Patrick Rodgers 95-1
Troy Merritt 100-1
Martin Laird 100-1
Kazuki Higa 110-1
Takumi Kanaya 110-1
Sam Ruder 110-1
Adam Long 110-1
C.T. Pan 120-1
Beau Hossler 120-1
Lee Hodges 120-1
Peter Malnati 140-1
Chez Reavie 140-1
Keita Nakajima 140-1
Brandon Wu 140-1
Danny Lee 160-1
David Lipsky 160-1
John Huh 160-1
Ryo Hisatsune 210-1
Chad Ramey 210-1