Does Xander Schauffele have one more win in him, at the end of a year that has seen him capture two Major titles, and show an incredible level of consistency?
The bookies think so, as he has been installed as the 5-1 favourite for the Zozo Championship, the PGA Tour’s annual visit to Japan, with defending champion Collin Morikawa next best at 7-1.
Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama – also a two-time winner in 2024, but in slightly less exalted company than Schauffele – is an 8-1 shot in an event the market makers regard as pretty much a ‘three horse race’.
And they seem to have almost totally dismissed the golfers who play their trade on the Japan Golf Tour every week, with only one of the home-based golfers at less than three figure odds.
That could prove a mistake. Even if the likes of Schauffele and Morikawa will be hard to take down, the Zozo still throws up some intriguing each way possibilities.
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Golf tips
One player who seems to have been under-rated is Kensei Hirata, who leads the Japan Golf Tour money list after winning four times this year. The 23-year-old is still improving, and at a best priced 110-1, he is worth an each way interest.
That also applies to 125-1 shot Shugo Imahahra, who won the Japan Open a couple of weeks ago – an event that really tests every part of your game.
Another player flying the flag for the home team is Ryo Kinoshita. He was runner-up to Imahara in the Japan Open, and is another winner in 2024. The 250-1 on offer is pretty tempting.
But that trio are probably playing for place money, as it is still hard to see the winner coming from outside the ranks of tried-and-tested PGA Tour regulars.
Rather than take single figure odds on the likes of Schauffele and Morikawa, I’m more attracted to the 18-1 on offer for the enigmatic Sahith Theegala, and the 40-1 for Doug Ghim, who was just pipped by J.T.Poston at the Shiners last weekend.
Former US Open winner Gary Woodland played some fine golf to make the top ten at The Shiners.
After his recovery from brain surgery it would be hard to imagine a more popular winner. It may not happen this week, but at 66-1 he is another decent outsider.
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The DP World Tour also heads to the far east this week, for the Genesis Championship in Korea. But the bookies are all-in on the home players here, with Tom Kim and Ben An dominating the market at 7-1 and 8-1.
But Kim was dismissed in this column as a leading contender for a third successive Shriners title, and duly missed the cut. So it would take a big turnaround in form for him to justify favouritism this time.
An is not the most consistent player, and the best bet among the Korean stars in action could be Minkyu Kim. He looks good each way value at 125-1.
This looks like a volatile tournament where the short priced players make little appeal. It is hard to fancy anyone lower in the market than 25-1 shot Yannik Paul.
lf he shows the form that brought him second place at the French Open, Paul would be hard to beat.
Antoine Rozner has been disappointing since finishing an eye-catching seventh in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. But at 40-1, he could be worth another chance in this company.
Fellow Frenchman Tom Vaillant has shown signs of improvement and his 50-1 quote looks fair, while South African Brandon Stone has also played well enough recently to be of interest at 40-1.
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