Action Report: Xander Schauffele popular pick ahead of ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

The PGA TOUR heads to Japan this week for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, the fifth event of the FedExCup Fall.

ACCORDIA GOLF Narashino Country Club sees the best field of the fall, including defending champion Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala, Justin Thomas and Max Homa.

Unsurprisingly, Schauffele is a favorite among bettors at the BetMGM online sportsbook. As of Wednesday, Schauffele is drawing the most bets (10.2%) and the second-most money (14%). He has the shortest golf odds to win at +450.

Schauffele has a ridiculous 2024 season on the PGA TOUR and enters the ZOZO with five straight top-10 finishes worldwide. Overall, he has 20 top-25 finishes in 21 starts, including 15 top-10s.

Specific to this event, his best finish is a T9, which came back in 2022.

The player bringing in the most money is Hideki Matsuyama (22.6%) on the fourth-most tickets (6.3%). Matsuyama has seen his odds drop from +850 to now +800.

Matsuyama won this event back in 2022 and has had a very solid season. The 32-year-old has two wins to go along with seven top-10 finishes. He’s currently ranked seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Matsuyama, Kurt Kitayama (+2500) and Schauffele are BetMGM’s biggest liabilities this week.

Current handle and tickets

Handle

1. Hideki Matsuyama – 22.6%
2. Xander Schauffele – 14%
3. Kurt Kitayama – 7.4%
4. Collin Morikawa – 6.1%
5. Sahith Theegala – 5.8%

Tickets

1. Xander Schauffele – 10.2%
2. Collin Morikawa – 7.6%
3. Kurt Kitayama – 6.4%
4. Hideki Matsuyama – 6.3%
5. Sahith Theegala – 4.9%

Kitayama is a popular pick coming off a T9 finish last week at the Shriners Children’s Open and has finished T29 and T16 in his previous two appearances at this event.

Morikawa, the defending champion, closed the year very strong and has the second-shortest odds at +700.

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