The 2021-22 PGA Tour schedule rolls on this week as the 2021 Zozo Championship tees off from Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan on Thursday, Oct. 21. The Zozo Championship 2021 features a strong field, headlined by Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele. Morikawa, the third-ranked player in the world, is coming off a runner-up finish at last week’s CJ Cup and he’s expected to be in the mix again this week. The winner of the 2021 Zozo Championship will receive 500 FedEx Cup points.
Caesars Sportsbook lists Morikawa and Schauffele as the 13-2 co-favorites in the latest 2021 Zozo Championship odds. They’re followed by Matsuyama (16-1), Paul Casey (18-1) and Will Zalatoris (18-1) on the PGA odds board. Before locking in your 2021 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 last June. In fact, it’s up almost $10,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
At the 2021 Open Championship, McClure’s best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. He was also all over Daniel Berger (+220) and Emiliano Grillo (+700) finishing inside the top-20. McClure’s best bets netted over $2,200 at the 2021 Open Championship.
In addition, McClure’s model was 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. And at the 2021 Masters, McClure nailed Rahm’s (+250) top-five finish in his best bets, as well as Corey Conners’ (+550) top-10 showing.
This same model has also nailed a whopping seven majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2021 Zozo Championship field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected 2021 Zozo Championship leaderboard.
The model’s top 2021 Zozo Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2021 Zozo Championship: Paul Casey, a PGA Tour champion and one of the top favorites, doesn’t even crack the top five. Casey is a proven winner, having won three tournaments on the PGA Tour while securing an additional 16 international victories.
However, Casey has struggled to start the 2021-22 season, missing the cut at the Shriners Children’s Open and finishing T-25 at the CJ Cup. Plus, the 44-year-old has been extremely inconsistent with his putter this season, ranking 123rd in overall putting average (1.593) and 149th in total putting (241.0). His inability to make putts, coupled with his ineffectiveness around the greens doesn’t bode well for his chances to finish on top of the leaderboard this week. He’s not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in the 2021 Zozo Championship field.
Another surprise: Joaquin Niemann, a 28-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. Niemann 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.
Niemann certainly has the game to finish near the top of the leaderboard this week. The 22-year-old Chilean has already won a PGA Tour event and he secured five top-10 finishes last season. In addition, Niemann finished last season ranked inside the top-25 in a number of important statistical categories, including birdie average (4.14), scoring average (70.045), strokes gained: off-the-tee (.556) and strokes gained: total (1.124). If he’s striking the ball well this week, he’ll have a great shot at finishing on top of the leaderboard at Narashino Country Club.
How to make 2021 Zozo Championship picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds longer than 25-1 who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these long shots could hit it big. You can only see them here.
So who will win the Zozo Championship 2021? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2021 Zozo Championship leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed seven golf majors and is up almost $10,000 since the restart.
2021 Zozo Championship odds
Collin Morikawa 13-2
Xander Schauffele 13-2
Hideki Matsuyama 16-1
Paul Casey 18-1
Will Zalatoris 18-1
Tommy Fleetwood 25-1
Joaquin Niemann 28-1
Cameron Tringale 30-1
Rickie Fowler 30-1
Keegan Bradley 35-1
Alex Noren 35-1
Maverick McNealy 35-1
Si-Woo Kim 35-1
Emiliano Grillo 40-1
Jhonattan Vegas 40-1
C.T. Pan 40-1
Erik Van Rooyen 40-1
Charley Hoffman 40-1
Branden Grace 50-1
Lanto Griffin 50-1
Carlos Ortiz 50-1
Adam Schenk 50-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 50-1
Matt Wallace 50-1
MacKenzie Hughes 50-1
Chris Kirk 50-1
Takumi Kanaya 50-1
Ryan Palmer 50-1
Luke List 60-1
Harry Higgs 66-1
Garrick Higgo 66-1
Sebastian Munoz 66-1
Brendan Steele 66-1
Henrik Norlander 66-1
Brendon Todd 66-1
Doug Ghim 66-1
Roger Sloan 80-1
Matt Jones 80-1
Robert Streb 80-1
Pat Perez 80-1
Tom Hoge 80-1
Chan Kim 80-1
Troy Merritt 100-1
Andrew Putnam 100-1
Scott Vincent 100-1
Doc Redman 125-1
Matthew NeSmith 125-1
Sepp Straka 125-1
Chesson Hadley 125-1
Kyle Stanley 125-1
Sung-Hoon Kang 125-1
Jimmy Walker 150-1
Brandon Hagy 150-1
Adam Long 150-1
Shugo Imahira 150-1
Wyndham Clark 150-1
Sam Ryder 150-1
Ryosuke Kinoshita 150-1
Satoshi Kodaira 150-1
Peter Malnati 150-1
James Hahn 200-1
Tomoharu Otsuki 200-1
Hiroshi Iwata 200-1
Kramer Hickok 200-1
Rikuya Hoshino 200-1
Jinichiro Kozuma 200-1
Keita Nakajima 200-1
Kazuki Higa 250-1
Ryo Hisatsune 250-1
Wesley Bryan 250-1
Tyler McCumber 250-1
Ryutaro Nagano 300-1
Tomoyasu Sugiyama 300-1
Naoto Nakanishi 400-1
Ryuichi Oiwa 400-1
Naoyuki Kataoka 400-1
Bill Haas 400-1
Ryuji Imada 500-1
