A long winning drought was broken on Sunday at the Zozo Championship in Japan, but perhaps not the one everyone was expecting. Rickie Fowler came into the final round leading and looking for his first victory since the 2019 Phoenix Open, but he was clipped in the end by a single stroke by Keegan Bradley, who had experienced an even longer time between wins with his last victory coming at the 2018 BMW Championship.

Bradley shot a 2-under 68, which was two better than Fowler and good enough to finish at 15 under, one ahead of Rickie, the man with home he was playing. It was a bit of a ride for both players as they sought to break streaks they never wished to start. Fowler shot his worst round of the week — a 70 — and never could get rolling at Narashino Country Club after shining for the first two days. Bradley nursed a lead coming down the back stretch but kicked it away with bogeys at Nos. 14 and 16, the latter on account of a shank coming out of a bunker.

He buried a birdie on No. 17 to retake the lead, however, and maintained it with a par at the final hole. The result?

“I’ve been crying since I finished,” said Bradley after winning for the fifth time on the PGA Tour. “I can’t remember the last time I cried. I talked to my wife on the phone a second ago, FaceTime. I can’t keep it together, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

There’s nothing wrong with Bradley, age 36, of course. It’s just that as you get older and actually understand how difficult it is to win on the toughest tour in the world, the victories start to mean more. Bradley won a lot early on, but he has just two wins since 2012. This victory moves him into the top 25 in the Official World Golf Rankings and ostensibly into some conversations of which he wants to be a part.

“It means a lot,” said Bradley. “There’s a lot of hard work that goes into it. Even if you play perfectly, doesn’t mean you’re going to win. But for me, I feel like I should be contending for tournaments, I want to be contending to play on Ryder Cup, Presidents Cups teams, majors. You know, this is going to go a long way. I haven’t really … of my five, I haven’t really won that many leading the entire day like I did today, and I really learned a lot and I think I can take a lot of that going forward the rest of the year.”

I don’t know if Bradley is going to be in the mix for next year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team in Rome. What I do know is that he’s an overlooked and probably underrated player on the PGA Tour. His ball-striking is world class, and if he can figure out how to return to being an above-average putter like he was a the beginning of his career, he will legitimately be in the conversation for the Ryder Cup and probably go fewer than eight years between major top 10s like he did from 2014 to 2022.

Regardless, this is one to celebrate. Bradley said he’s going out in Japan tonight and planning on catching the New England Patriots game at 2 a.m. local time. Who can blame him after breaking a four-year drought? The older you get the more precious those victories become. Grade: A+

Here are the rest of our grades for the 2022 Zozo Championship.

T2. Rickie Fowler (-14): I’m not sure the average fan knows just how in the desert Fowler has been over the last three years. Here’s a quick and non-exhaustive sampling:

• Three top 10s in the last 30 months
• Ranked behind Marcus Helligkilde and Kaito Onishi in the OWGR
• Missed three majors in 2022
• 0 SG player (basically PGA Tour average) for two years

All that to say it was awesome to see him back in the mix in Japen after such a difficult run for such a long time. There’s a catch, though. We saw this last fall when he nearly won the CJ Cup. Nothing materialized from that this year (he didn’t have a single top 20 in 2022 anywhere until September), so hopefully this resurgence will play out differently. Grade: A

“It’s just finally in a position where we’re building momentum and building more confidence,” said Fowler. “I feel like in the last few years there would be times where kind of take a step forward and just was never really able to build more momentum than for one week at a time. In a great spot and finally in a position where things are starting to kind of snowball and head in the right direction all together.”

T9. Xander Schauffele (-10): It wasn’t enough, but Schauffele nearly shot the round of the day on Sunday with a 5-under 65. That 65 was a reminder of this completely absurd stat.

Schauffele low-key rode a heater into the end of the 2021-22 season, and he’s picking up where he left off. In his last 11 tournaments last season, he finished in the top 20 a whopping 10 times, finished in the top five six times and won three of them (including a team championship with Patrick Cantlay). He’s on another level. Grade: A-

T45. Collin Morikawa (-2) and T53. Cameron Young (-1): Two Presidents Cup players went to Japan and couldn’t crack the top 40, which is disappointing. Both of these guys are on a bit of “wait, are we sure they’re going to be on next year’s Ryder Cup team?” watch. While both are terrific players — and Morikawa an accomplished winner — both can also be streaky, which can certainly be a good thing but often can also lead to some pretty sub-par results like these. Grade: D

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It has been a long three years for Rickie Fowler and on Sunday at the 2022 Zozo Championship he has an opportunity to squash all his past critics. Getting around Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club with a 4-under 66 on Saturday, Fowler stands at 14 under through three rounds and commands a slim lead over Keegan Bradley at 13 under, Andrew Putnam at 12 under and Viktor Hovland at 11 under.

Playing in the final pairing alongside Putnam in the third round, Fowler hardly looked as if he was a year removed from his last contention run. Two birdies on his outward half were accompanied by three on his inward half and only one bogey — his lone blemish over his last 36 holes.

While the collective golf public will be at the back of Fowler in the final round of the Zozo Championship, his return to prominence will not come without stress. Fowler has struggled as a 54-hole leader throughout his tenure on the PGA Tour, converting only two of eight prior chances into victories including his last triumph at the 2019 WM Phoenix Open.

Last in this position at the 2021 CJ Cup at The Summit Club, Fowler struggled early and often 51 weeks ago and ultimately gave way to Rory McIlroy. There is no McIlroy in this field, but that is not to say his pursuers can be glanced over. Bradley can ball-strike with the best of them, Putnam is in the midst of a stellar seven-tournament stretch and Hovland is well, Hovland and capable of just about anything.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in this situation. Last year at CJ [CUP] was in a similar situation, but other than that, there hasn’t been much the last few years,” Fowler said. “Obviously remember being in those situations before, but no, it will be tough tomorrow, but also fun. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m going to have to play well and continue to do what I’ve been doing the last three days. Keegan [Bradley], Putty [Andrew Putnam] on down the list, there’s plenty of guys within a few shots. I’m out front, in control, but that can change if I don’t execute like I have been.”

The leader

1. Rickie Fowler (-14)

Fowler began the week congratulating Tom Kim and his former caddie Joe Skovron on their victory at the Shriners Children’s Open and now he finds himself in position to grab a trophy of his own. Motivation has never been fleeting for Fowler as critics run wild and his recent swing changes only empowered those to come out of the woodworks. 

The iron play has looked extremely sharp through three rounds, but more importantly, he is starting to putt like vintage Fowler again. While many like to point to his full swing as the cause of his poor play, it has actually been the flat stick which has let the 33-year-old down. Losing strokes on the greens the last two seasons on the PGA Tour, he has quickly rectified this situation. While the full swing will surely come under pressure in the heat of contention — and the driver should be on the eyes of viewers — with Fowler it has and always will come down to the putter.

Other contenders

2. Keegan Bradley (-13)

3. Andrew Putnam (-12)

4. Viktor Hovland (-11)

T5. Maverick McNealy, Cameron Champ, Hayden Buckley (-10)

T8. Sahith Theegala, Taylor Moore, Tom Hoge, Ryo Hisatsune, Joel Dahmen, Matthew NeSmith (-9)

Earlier this week, a question was posed on the First Cut Podcast whether Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young or Hovland will capture the most victories in the 2022-23 season. My CBS Sports colleague Kyle Porter was the lone man to select Hovland and must be grinning at the moment.

Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club is an exquisite fit for the Norwegian as he is one of the best ball strikers in this field and has displayed this through 54 holes. Hitting all 18 greens in regulation in Round 3, if Hovland is able to keep things this stress free on Sunday, it may be him and not Fowler who notches a win for Oklahoma State.

“It’s just kind of simple golf. Like there’s not too much water, but there’s just some really good tee shots out here. Not the widest fairways and the rough is penal, so you’ve got to drive it well,” Hovland said. “If you put it in the fairway, you’re going to have a lot of good short irons with the greens being so soft and pure, so you can really attack the pins, and if you get the putter going, you can make some birdies.”

2022 Zozo Championship updated odds and picks

• Rickie Fowler: 11/5
• Keegan Bradley: 12/5
• Viktor Hovland: 6-1
• Andrew Putnam: 15/2
• Maverick McNealy: 20-1
• Cameron Champ: 25-1
• Hayden Buckley: 40-1
• Sahith Theegala: 40-1
• Tom Hoge 45-1
• Matthew NeSmith: 60-1
• Taylor Moore: 75-1
• Joel Dahmen: 80-1

The heart says Fowler gets off the schneid and wins the Zozo Championship. His price is relatively fair and I don’t mind indulging just for the fact it is Fowler. Unfortunately, golf has a way of ripping hearts out and Hovland may be the player to do just that. 

The world No. 11 will need to hit a few more fairways, but for a driver of his caliber, this should be achievable. He has quietly become one of the best putters in the world dating back to last summer and combined with his ball-striking prowess, he will put a ton of pressure on Fowler, and possibly enough to break him. 

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With the overnight leader heading in the wrong direction in the second round of the 2022 Zozo Championship, the door was swung wide open for a number of candidates to put their claim on this championship. Andrew Putnam was the man who marched through first as the 33-year-old was simply brilliant around Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on Friday.

Signing for an 8-under 62, Putnam secured not only a new course record — which was later bested by John Huh’s 61 — but also a share of the 36-hole lead at 10 under. Beginning the day with two straight birdies, he added birdies on the par-3 fifth and par-4 eighth to turn in 4-under 30. Four additional birdies on his inward half were all he needed to claim the new low score around Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, but it was nearly one less as he experienced a brutal lip-out for eagle on his final hole of the day.

One worse than Putnam on the day was fan-favorite Rickie Fowler who carded a 7-under 63 to share the lead at the halfway point. Coming off a short week at the Shriners Children’s Open, the five-time PGA Tour winner is still clearly working through swing changes, but Friday did mark his first bogey-free effort of the young season.

A big step in the right direction, Fowler will need to continue to play in this manner if he is to overtake Putnam and fend off Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland — all of whom are currently inside the top 10.

The leaders

T1. Andrew Putnam, Rickie Fowler (-10)

The question heading into the weekend is whether Fowler can continue to drive the golf ball the way he currently is. Losing nearly four strokes off-the-tee at TPC Summerlin a week ago, the 33-year-old struggled with a two-way miss and was left scrambling more times than not in the desert. 

It has been a completely different story through 36 holes as he ranks 12th in driving accuracy having connected on nearly 66% of the fairways. With a necessity of playing approach shots from the short grass, Fowler understands the importance the big stick holds moving forward.

“I need to drive it well around this place, which like I said, I’ve managed my way with what I’ve had the first two days, but looking forward to a little bit of work and tighten that up,” Fowler said. “Yeah, just continue to have fun on this golf course and hopefully I’m playing from the fairway.”

Other contenders

3. Keegan Bradley (-9)

4. John Huh (-8)

5. Keita Nakajima (-7)

T6. Matthew NeSmith, Sam Ryder (-6)

T8. Adam Schenk, Collin Morikawa, Joel Dahmen, Viktor Hovland, Luke List (-5)

It was an impressive bounce back for Morikawa in the second round as he signed for a 6-under 64 to catapult his name into contention. Earlier in the week, he mentioned the effects of jet lag having only been in Japan for 30 hours before the onset of the tournament and admittingly looked sluggish in the first round. 

He now appears to be back to his normal self and having experienced a winless 2021-22 campaign, he will relish the opportunity to get off the schneid and back into the winner’s circle. The world No. 9 ranks second in driving accuracy and fifth in greens in regulation through the first two rounds and it is hard to imagine his reliable ball-striking going anywhere over the weekend.

2022 Zozo Championship updated odds and picks

• Keegan Bradley: 18/5
• Rickie Fowler: 4-1
• Andrew Putnam: 5-1
• Collin Morikawa: 14-1
• Viktor Hovland: 16-1
• Xander Schauffele: 18-1
• John Huh: 20-1
• Matthew NeSmith: 25-1
• Keita Nakajima: 40-1
• Cameron Young: 45-1
• Sam Ryder: 45-1

Ideally, the ball will be played down in the second half of this tournament as Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club continues to dry out from previous rain. This puts an added importance on ball-striking as around-the-green play will prove to be more difficult and greens will firm up. 

With this in mind, Morikawa makes a ton of sense at 14-1 which is roughly the same as his pre-tournament price. As mentioned, he is driving it beautifully and his iron play looks like peak Morikawa which makes him ultra dangerous as a chaser. The two-time major champion stands alongside a potential long shot option in Luke List at 5 under who possesses a similar skillset and is listed at 55-1 if looking for a bit more juice for your squeeze.

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While many were asleep Wednesday evening on the East Coast of the United States, the 2022 Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan, got underway. Headlined by defending champion Hideki Matsuyama, the most popular golfer in Japan, it was the dreary weather which ultimately took center stage in the first round. Competitors played with ball in hand as they dealt with rainy and wet conditions around Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.

The man who adapted to his surroundings better than the rest of the field was Brendan Steele, who opened with a 6-under 64 to command the solo first-round lead. The 39-year-old was exquisite from the jump as he made birdie on the par-4 2nd before adding two more on Nos. 10 and 11. After a head-scratching bogey on the par-5 14th, Steele was left needing to recover, and recover he did with four birdies over the course of his final four holes.

Highlighted by a hole-out birdie from roughly 60 yards on the difficult par-4 17th, Steele was able to position his name atop the first page of the leaderboard that includes the likes of Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and Mito Pereira. Matsuyama may have began his defense effort in middling fashion with a 1-over 71, but his fellow countryman Kazuki Higa is firmly in the mix after a 3-under 67 and will look to make it back-to-back Zozo Championship winners hailing from Japan. 

The leader

1. Brendan Steele (-6)

It is no secret that Steele has gone through the wringer with the putter recently, but he has clearly developed a nice level of comfort around Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. Finishing runner-up to Matsuyama in last year’s tournament, Steele picked up where he left off in Round 1. Having lost a combined 10 strokes on the greens en route to missing the cut at the Fortinet Championship and the Sanderson Farms Championship, it appears — at least through 18 holes — that Steele has left his putting woes back in the United States.

“I love it here. Loved the course last year, really happy to be back. Nice for us to be able to get out of the hotel a little bit this year, too, and enjoy the culture a little, so I’ve enjoyed it a ton,” said Steele. “You just have to drive it well. I like to draw the ball off the tee at least when I’m swinging well and I think there’s quite a few draws out here, so I feel comfortable with the shots that are maybe a little harder for some guys that have a different ball flight. And then I’ve been really comfortable on the greens. The greens are difficult, they have a lot of slope, a lot of speed, but from the start last year I felt really comfortable here and that’s really a key for me.”

Other contenders

2. Adam Schenk (-5)

T3. Keegan Bradley, Matthew NeSmith, Sam Ryder (-4)

T6. Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Mito Pereira, Maverick McNealy, Kazuki Higa (-3)

Competing on a sponsors exemption, Fowler is taking full advantage of his opportunity at the Zozo Championship. After kicking off his 2022-23 season with a T6 finish at the Fortinet Championship, many believed the five-time PGA Tour winner was well on his way to officially being “back.” A missed cut at the Shriners Children’s Open dampened expectations, but a volatile Fowler may be the new normal as he assimilates to a new caddie and a return to former swing coach Butch Harmon. 

“I’m very happy with where we’re at,” said Fowler. “Obviously didn’t have the week we wanted last week, drove it poorly, but with some of the changes we’ve made and to have the finish that we did at Napa and kind of seeing a lot of good things, I’m definitely happy about it and excited to be here and off to a good start.”

2022 Zozo Championship updated odds and picks

• Xander Schauffele (5-1)
• Keegan Bradley (9-1)
• Brendan Steele (10-1)
• Mito Pereira (12-1)
• Adam Schenk (14-1)
• Matthew NeSmith (18-1)
• Maverick McNealy (18-1)
• Viktor Hovland (20-1)

With 54 holes still to play, none of the players shorter than 20-1 really stand out. The top of this leaderboard is susceptible to turnover; instead, we will look to a couple players who signed for rounds of even par 70. Englishman Tyrrell Hatton was a name fancied at the onset of the tournament, and this sentiment has not changed after 18 holes. Carding a quadruple bogey in the middle of his back nine, Hatton was able to recover with four straight birdies to claw back to even by day’s end and stands six strokes back at 40-1.

A similar story unfolded for Cam Davis as he began his Zozo Championship with two double bogeys and a bogey in his first four holes. The smooth-swinging Australian played his final 14 holes in 4 under to end the day where he began at even par. Davis is listed at 60-1, comes off a strong Presidents Cup debut and is playing with house money — literally — as he is set to see his family in Australia at the completion of play this week.

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Xander Schauffele will be back in the country that was the site of one of his career highlights when he tees off at the 2022 Zozo Championship. The co-sanctioned tournament with the Japan Golf Tour begins Wednesday night at Narashino Country Club near Tokyo. Schauffele won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics at nearby Kasumigaseki Country Club just over a year ago. The 28-year-old is making his PGA Tour season debut after finishing fourth at the Tour Championship in August and helping lead the United States to victory in the Presidents Cup last month. Schauffele is the highest-ranked golfer in the Zozo Championship 2022 field at No. 6. 

Schauffele is the 9-1 favorite in the latest 2022 Zozo Championship odds from Caesars Sportsbook, followed by Sungjae Im (12-1) and Hideki Matsuyama (14-1). Collin Morikawa (14-1) and Tom Kim (14-1) also are among the top contenders in the 2022 Zozo Championship field. Before making any 2022 Zozo Championship picks, be sure you check out the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf insider Patrick McDonald.

After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.

He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on those plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.

One of McDonald’s longshot golfers at last week’s Shriners Children’s Open was a serious threat, with Tom Hoge (60-1) leading after the first round and firing a 7-under 64 on Sunday to end up tied for fourth. The expert also faded Max Homa, one of the favorites for the week, saying he would play well but not be a serious contender. Homa tied for 20th.   

Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 Zozo Championship field and is locking in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions. 

Top 2022 Zozo Championship expert picks

In a notable surprise from McDonald’s picks this week is that the expert is fading Corey Conners (25-1) despite the evident skill that should play well at Narashino. Conners finished in the top 25 in almost half his events last season (12 of 25) and was in the top 10 four times. That is because he is one of the tour’s best players from tee to green. He was 18th in strokes gained total and 20th in scoring average (69.941) in 2021-22 and ranked second in greens in regulation (71.9%). But his putting and chipping have been abysmal, costing him 1.5 strokes per round last season. 

On the other hand, McDonald is looking for Morikawa to start finding the form that won him two majors before age 25. He got off to a good start at the Presidents Cup, building confidence before his initial tour start of this season by going 2-1-0 in Team USA’s victory. He went a full season without winning a tournament for the first time in his career, but he finished in the top-five in two majors. He went 66-69-65 at the Tour Championship but faded Sunday with victory out of reach. Morikawa was third in both strokes gained approach and proximity to the hole in 2021-22.  See who else to pick here.

How to make 2022 Zozo Championship golf picks

Before this week’s PGA Tour event in Japan, McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2022 Zozo Championship. He is backing several massive longshots to win, including one golfer who comes in over 100-1. You can only see all of the expert’s picks at SportsLine.

So which 2022 Zozo Championship picks should you target? Which golfer priced over 100-1 could pull off a stunning victory this week? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top prop picks for the Zozo Championship 2022, all from the expert who ended last season up 42 units on outright plays.

2022 Zozo Championship odds, field, top contenders

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

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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

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