2021 Zozo Championship odds, field: Surprising PGA picks, predictions from model that’s nailed seven majors

Tiger Woods was the first winner of the Zozo Championship in 2019, and still holds the tournament’s 72-hole record. That year, Rory McIlroy tied with Keegan Bradley for the tournament’s single-round record of 63. McIlroy won the CJ Cup last weekend, but neither he nor Woods will be in the 2021 Zozo Championship field when it makes its way back to Japan this week. Play gets underway from Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan on Thursday, Oct. 21.

Hideki Matsuyama finished as the tournament’s inaugural runner-up, and he will be back again this year as one of the favorites to win. Matsuyama is being listed at 16-1 in the latest 2021 Zozo Championship odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Can Matsuyama break through in 2021 and take the title from other top contenders like Collin Morikawa (13-2), Xander Schauffele (13-2) or Tommy Fleetwood (25-1)? Before locking in your 2021 Zozo Championship picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed last June. In fact, it’s up almost $10,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.

At the 2021 Open Championship, McClure’s best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. He was also all over Daniel Berger (+220) and Emiliano Grillo (+700) finishing inside the top-20. McClure’s best bets netted over $2,200 at the 2021 Open Championship.

In addition, McClure’s model was all over Jon Rahm’s (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner. And at the 2021 Masters, McClure nailed Rahm’s (+250) top-five finish in his best bets, as well as Corey Conners’ (+550) top-10 showing.  

This same model has also nailed a whopping seven majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.

Now that the 2021 Zozo Championship field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected 2021 Zozo Championship leaderboard.

The model’s top 2021 Zozo Championship predictions 

One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2021 Zozo Championship: Will Zalatoris (18-1), a player with three top-10 major finishes in his young career, barely crackes the top five. There are far better values in the 2021 Zozo Championship field.

Zalatoris has posted relatively strong numbers in his three events this season, but he struggled at the Shriners Children’s Open his last time out, missing the cut after shooting a 72 in the second round in a low-scoring event. He’s performed well off the tee and reaching greens in regulation at a high level, but his putting has let him down this season. He ranks well outside the top 100 in strokes gained: putting, which could keep him out of contention this week.

Another surprise: Alex Noren, a huge 35-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. Noren had three top-10 finishes last season, including two top-five finishes at the Northern Trust and Rocket Mortgage Classic. The 39-year-old Swede is still finding his form to start the 2021-22 season, but he’s performed well in a couple of key areas early on.

The CJ Cup is Noren’s only PGA Tour event so far this season, where he finished tied for 59th. However, he finished that tournament ranked fifth on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, after he hit 75 percent of fairways. He has an identical sand save percentage, and has been one of the tours best at chipping from close range around the greens.

Noren doesn’t catch much attention from public bettors, as he is still in search of his first career PGA Tour victory. He does have 11 international tournament titles to his name, but his relative anonymity makes him a great under-the-radar choice this weekend at the 2021 Zozo Championship. 

How to make 2021 Zozo Championship picks

The model is also targeting five other golfers with odds longer than 25-1 who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these long shots could hit it big. You can only see them here.

So who will win the Zozo Championship 2021? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2021 Zozo Championship leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed seven golf majors and is up almost $10,000 since the restart.

2021 Zozo Championship odds

Collin Morikawa 13-2

Xander Schauffele 13-2

Hideki Matsuyama 16-1

Will Zalatoris 18-1

Tommy Fleetwood 25-1

Joaquin Niemann 28-1

Cameron Tringale 30-1

Rickie Fowler 30-1

Keegan Bradley 35-1

Alex Noren 35-1

Maverick McNealy 35-1

Si-Woo Kim 35-1

Emiliano Grillo 40-1

Jhonattan Vegas 40-1

C.T. Pan 40-1

Erik Van Rooyen 40-1

Charley Hoffman 40-1

Branden Grace 50-1

Lanto Griffin 50-1

Carlos Ortiz 50-1

Adam Schenk 50-1

Kyoung-Hoon Lee 50-1

Matt Wallace 50-1

MacKenzie Hughes 50-1

Chris Kirk 50-1

Takumi Kanaya 50-1

Ryan Palmer 50-1

Luke List 60-1

Harry Higgs 66-1

Garrick Higgo 66-1

Sebastian Munoz 66-1

Brendan Steele 66-1

Henrik Norlander 66-1

Brendon Todd 66-1

Doug Ghim 66-1

Roger Sloan 80-1

Matt Jones 80-1

Robert Streb 80-1

Pat Perez 80-1

Tom Hoge 80-1

Chan Kim 80-1

Troy Merritt 100-1

Andrew Putnam 100-1

Scott Vincent 100-1

Doc Redman 125-1

Matthew NeSmith 125-1

Sepp Straka 125-1

Chesson Hadley 125-1

Kyle Stanley 125-1

Sung-Hoon Kang 125-1

Jimmy Walker 150-1

Brandon Hagy 150-1

Adam Long 150-1

Shugo Imahira 150-1

Wyndham Clark 150-1

Sam Ryder 150-1

Ryosuke Kinoshita 150-1

Satoshi Kodaira 150-1

Peter Malnati 150-1

James Hahn 200-1

Tomoharu Otsuki 200-1

Hiroshi Iwata 200-1

Kramer Hickok 200-1

Rikuya Hoshino 200-1

Jinichiro Kozuma 200-1

Keita Nakajima 200-1

Kazuki Higa 250-1

Ryo Hisatsune 250-1

Wesley Bryan 250-1

Tyler McCumber 250-1

Ryutaro Nagano 300-1

Tomoyasu Sugiyama 300-1

Naoto Nakanishi 400-1

Ryuichi Oiwa 400-1

Naoyuki Kataoka 400-1

Bill Haas 400-1

Ryuji Imada 500-1