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A fourth visit to the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan for the ZOZO Championship. The first two editions were quite something. In 2019 Tiger Woods won, creating a huge buzz in the country even if a storm meant that fans were kept off the property at time during the week (many of them simply presssed their noses against the wire fences bordering the property) and the second running saw local favourite Hideki Matsuyama lift the trophy. Last year the winner was a little less celebrated, but Keegan Bradley has hinted at his capacity to thrive in finishing top 15 on two occasions previously. The parkland course is very typical of Japan. Rory McIlroy started off his description with the words “tight and tree-lined” before adding: “It’s a great course, in great condition, the greens are so pure, and it sort of reminds me a little bit of the course we play in Mexico, Chapultepec.” Why is that? “The doglegs and having to cut off corners.” Driving the ball is important and not just because of those trees and doglegs. That’s because there is Zoysia grass on the fairways and in the rough. “I’ve never played rough like this,” Jason Day sad of it, adding: “The blade of grass is so huge.” Collin Morikawa’s opinion was that: “You don’t have to hit driver at all. It’s really important to hit the fairways. Even though the rough isn’t super long, it’s still penalizing into small greens.” And what of the greens? Will Zalatoris claimed two years ago: “They are extremely fast and some of us were making comparisons to Augusta just given the slopes and how fast they were.” It’s a par 70 that plays to a yardage of 7,079 yards. It also has a very Japanese quirk: each hole has two greens to accommodate the distinct weather seasons (only one green per hole will be in play this week).
Angles to consider 1 / The Firestone Factor We were on Keegan Bradley at 33/1 twelve months ago and the reason was that we identified a former PGA tour venue as a good pointer. “Tight and tree-lined, small greens,” we wrote. “Sounds like Firestone Country Club.” Bradley, like Woods and Matsuyama is a former winner at the old host of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. Other winners there Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas have played Narashino well. Firestone was always known as a good course for strong driver of the ball (and often long ones too). That’s backed up by the 5-year Pre-Event Trends because having a top 10 ranking for Strokes Gained Off the Tee in the last weeks is a strong trend and ranking top 10 in the field for Driving Distance is not far behind. 2 / Stats We don’t have Strokes Gained stats but Woods ranked third for Greens in Regulation during his win, Matsuyama was seventh and last year Bradley was third. The 5-year Pre-Event Trends also highlight this factor – ranking top 10 for GIR in the field is one of the top five trends. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Rickie Fowler He had five top 10 finishes at Firestone including a second and he was also second here last year. He opened 67-63-66 to open up a one shot 54-hole lead before slipping back. He’s become a winner since and would dearly love to win in Japan where he has family connections. He ranked 12th for SG Off the Tee last time out. Adam Scott Another who had logged five top 10s at Firestone and with a win he would become yet another golfer to complete the Firestone-Narashino double. He was 33rd in 2019 but did card 67-66 in the middle rounds. He also had four top seven finishes elsewhere in Japan. Two of his last four starts have been seventh place – at Sedgefield and Wentworth, both half decent pointer for this week. He ranks sixth for Driving Distance in the field and has sixth for SG Off the Tee inside his last nine starts. Vincent Norrman The stats like the Swede. He ranks seventh in the field for GIR, fifth for Driving Distance and has ranked top 10 for SG OTT in five of his last eight starts (two of those were wins, either side of the Atlantic). Tips: 0-3; -6.00pts 1pt e.w. Rickie Fowler at 16/1 (Paddy Power, William Hill, BF Sportsbook, 888Sport 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) 64th 1pt e.w. Adam Scott at 28/1 (Paddy Power, BF Sportsbook 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) 41st 1pt e.w. Vincent Norrman at 50/1 (888Sport 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,8) 38th
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