PGA Tour - Zozo Championship Preview

The Course
The PGA tour is off to Japan this week for a small field 78 with no cut. Japan’s first official PGA Tour event was first held in 2019 with Tiger Woods (remember him!) winning the inaugural event.

Narashino Country Club is a tight, tree-lined, parkland layout with water in play on five holes, and plenty of doglegs. With small greens we are looking for players with superior accuracy. The course has three par-fives on the card, with the toughest holes being the are the 461m par-four fourth, the 444m par-four 11th and the 448m par-four 12th.

Date: 21 - 24 October, 2021
Course: Narashino Country Club, Inzai, Japan
Length: 6438 meters
Par: 70
Greens: Bent Grass
Defending Champion: Patrick Cantlay

Key Course Stats

• Strokes Gained: Tee To Green
• Ball Striking
• Driving Accuracy
• Birdie or Better
• Par 4 Scoring
• GIR
• Putting Average
• Bogey Avoidance

Key Correlation Tournaments

• WGC - Mexico
• WGC - St Jude
• Byron Nelson

Our Thoughts
Collin Morikawa: Impossible to go past even. This is an incredibly weak PGA Tour field and this course looks set to suit Morikawa perfectly. It is a course for the Ball Strikers and Morikawa ranks 2nd in Ball Striking, 2nd in Strokes Gained: Tee To Green and 5th in GIR.

Keegan Bradley: Finished last season ranked 6th in Strokes Gained: Tee To Green as well as fourth in Ball Striking and 12th in GIR. Finished 10th in the WGC-Mexico in 2019.

Emiliano Grillo: Ranks 3rd in GIR, 3rd in Par 4 Scoring and 5th in Ball Striking. Looks a field he should go well against.

Matthew NeSmith: Unfashionable type but ranks 4th in GIR and 10th in Ball Striking. Not without a hope of a Top 5/10 finish.