Of course, hindsight is always 2020, but looking back at 2022/23 PGA Tour has been somewhat easy to predict so far this season. Max Homa repeated at the Fortinet Championship to start the year with +1000 odds, and Patrick Cantlay looked well on his way to a +650 win last weekend at the Shriners Children’s Open until a triple-bogey at the 72nd hole.
Even Tom Kim’s +2200 win last weekend at TPC Summerlin after Cantlay’s meltdown wasn’t a complete shocker considering he is red hot right now. The great thing about golf betting is that we also have a Mackenzie Hughes +13000 win mixed in there at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
This weekend the Tour heads to Accordia Golf Narashino CC in Japan. It’s the best field so far through three events, but the extra travel doesn’t necessarily mean one of the ZoZo Championship favorites are locked in for a win. Here are some underdogs that could make some noise here.
Sebastian Munoz +4000
10 of the 12 players from the International Team of the Presidents Cup are playing this weekend in Japan, including Sebastian Munoz. Munoz had a great weekend at Quail Hollow, going 2-0-1, which included a win over world #1 Scottie Scheffler in singles play.
Munoz fizzled out towards the end of last season, but he was fourth at the ZoZo Championship last year, and that, combined with his strong play at the Presidents Cup, are worth a play.
Mackenzie Hughes +5000
Although it’s not his +13000 odds at the Sanderson Farms Championship, +5000 isn’t bad for Hughes, considering he’s already got a Tour win this season.
Hughes had a lot of promise after winning the RSM Classic in 2016, but it was a long six-year drought until the victory two weeks ago in Jackson. We don’t know if Hughes is “back” just yet, but a fourth-place finish at the ZoZo last year is enough to get Hughes on your card.
Brendan Steele +8000
80/1 isn’t a bad price to pay for Brendan Steele, who was last year’s runner-up at this event. Sure his -10 wasn’t within striking distance of Matsuyama’s -15, but Steele opened and closed the weekend shooting 66.
Missing the cut at both the Fortinet Championship and the Sanderson Farms Championship isn’t a great trend for the 39-year-old Steele, but that’s also why you get these odds.
Takumi Kanayi +15000
Tiger Woods and Hideki Matsuyama are the previous two winners of the ZoZo Championship when held at Naramisho CC (was played in California in 2020 due to COVID), so Japan is 1-1 in this event. Since the ZoZo Championship is played in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour, the country is well represented here.
In the 2021 event, Yuki Inamon led in driving accuracy, Naoto Nakanishi was tops in putts per GIR, and Matsuyama led in GIR. It was Takumi Kanaya that had the best finish (T7) behind Matsuyama, so he has some value with those longshot odds.
