Zozo Championship 

Zozo Championship 

Accordia Golf Narashino CC 

Chiba, Japan Par 70

Purse $8.5M-$2.5M-21%

This is the 4th Fall event and the 5th edition of this tournament, the 4th played in Chiba.  Tiger Woods won the first in 2019.  There will be a field of 78 with no cut.  Most of the field has been playing in the previous 3 Fall events.  The top 10 favorites are the biggest names in the tournament and most have not played in any Fall events.  It will be interesting to see how the other 68 stand up to these 10. 

The purse has been reduced.  No reason or comparison to last year was revealed in all of the media I researched.  This may be the start of the sponsors pulling back on their contribution. ZOZO is a Japanese clothing manufacture and many Asian golfers wear their logo on hats and shirts.  If any new information is revealed I will include it in Sunday’s results.

Live TV coverage will start on Wed 10/18, 11PM to 3 AM since Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of EST.

FAVORITES * indicates they played in last years tournament.

*Xander Schauffele 7/1 He is the best player in the field and should win.

*Colin Morikawa 12/1 his putting has been a big problem and had a bad Ryder Cup, 1-3.

*Hideki Matsuyama 14/1 withdrew from BMW championship and hasn’t played in 2 months.

*Sungjae Im 14/1 helped S. Korea win a gold medal at the Asian games a few weeks ago.

*Rickie Fowler 16/1 came in 2nd last year and won $968K.

Min Woo Lee 16/1 has not won on the PGA Tour and it probably will stay that way.

Sahith Theegala 20/1 won his first PGA event, the Fortinet Championship in September.

*Keegan Bradley 22/1 his win last year started 2023 as his best year in over 4 years.

Cam Davis 22/1 played well at the Shriners last week and tied for 7th.

Adam Scott 25/1 probably playing for FedX points, at #81 he needs 100 to get Into the top 70. 

Best longshot Kurt Kitayama 70/1 he and Davis tied for 4th in the 2023 PGA Championship.

PGA/DP/LIV/ 2024 information

#2 The purse for the ZOZO has been reduced by 21% compared to last year.  The published purses for 2024 have been $20M for the 8 signature events and $25M for The Players.  No other purses have been revealed but there is speculation that the purse for this years Waste Management Phoenix Open will be around $9M compared to last years $20M.  It was a signature event last year but has been replaced by the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

#3 There will be 8 signature events, same as last year.  Some will have cuts and some no cuts. The field will be cut to the top 70 players plus 10.

#4  The first event for the 2024 season will be “ The Sentry” where the former name Tournament of Champions has been dropped.  It is the first signature tournament event with a purse of $20M and no cut, which it has always been.  Last year Rory McIlroy skipped the event supposedly was fined $5M.  This years field will be the top 70 plus the top 10 players from the Fall tournaments. 

#5 The 2nd signature event with a purse of $20M will be at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am from Feb 1 to Feb 4.  It replaces the Waste Management Phoenix Open.  It will be held at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hills.  Monterey Peninsula will not be included this year and amateurs will participate only on Thursday and Friday, not all 4 RDs as in the past.