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PGA: ZOZO Championship Course, Key Stats and Values

By George Zainoun

CHIBA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 21: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland swings on the first tee box during the MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on October 21, 2019 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
CHIBA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 21: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland swings on the first tee box during the MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on October 21, 2019 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images) /
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CHIBA, JAPAN – OCTOBER 21: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland swings on the first tee box during the MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on October 21, 2019 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Ben Jared/ PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
CHIBA, JAPAN – OCTOBER 21: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland swings on the first tee box during the MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on October 21, 2019 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Ben Jared/ PGA TOUR via Getty Images) /

PGA: ZOZO Championship Course, Key Stats and Values

We move deeper in the Asia swing this week and this time it takes us to Japan for the first time in PGA Tour history! Before we move on, let’s talk briefly about The CJ Cup in which eventually lead to the tournament favorite in Justin Thomas reclaiming the trophy (It’s not a cup, rather a funky cool placard). Thomas breezed through the 4 rounds seemingly unfazed by any trouble he was faced with and put on a dominating performance for the ages while the likes of Danny Lee missed several key up and downs to give him an opposing challenge on Sunday afternoon.

It’s important to note Justin’s long game in this instance which he seemingly struggled with last season leading into Medinah. Testing his bravado at the Honda Classic in the 2019 season, JT hit a wayward drive into the trees on the 6th hole. Rather than punch out, he went for the hero shot in which resulted in him making hard contact with a tree trunk bending his club and injuring his wrist. These issues now seem well behind him and he could be poised for a very successful season, so watch out for that.

Another notable injury to take into consideration moving forward is Brooks Koepka and his knee. Koepka had a minor arthroscopic procedure over the break that was kept eerily quiet. It seems as though something is not quite right and after two miserable rounds in Korea, he withdrew stating that he had slipped and fallen, re-aggravating the injury. One has to wonder if there is an ongoing underlying issue at hand that needs to be addressed, or if it just requires a little rest. Brooks is not in the field this week, so you can remove that variable from your potential lineups.

Regardless of the absence of Brooks, we have an extremely strong field. You’ll have heard about the most famous player to join the field in Tiger Woods, but among him are Rory Mcilroy, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, and hometown favorite Hideki Matsuyama to name a few. Day, Mcilroy, Matsuyama and Tiger all competed in a friendly “skins” game in which Jason took home the prize and over $100,000 in skins money (naturally donated to charity). If you caught the action on Monday morning here in the states, you’d have noticed the narrowness of the fairways and the sheer beauty of the surrounding region.

Although this was fun to watch, the PGA Tour has given us fans very little information about the course at hand. I took the initiative to contact the tour and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America to get a little more information on the course and what the best ways are to tackle this slate besides the obvious. Again, before we continue, please note that all the Asian Swing events including this one and the WGC-HSBC next week feature 78 Player fields with NO CUT. Let’s dive in on the next slide.

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