Sungjae Im. Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

Golf best bets: Outright picks for the Zozo Championship

The PGA Tour returns to Japan this week for the Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, and golf fans will be thrilled to see some familiar faces back on the course. World No. 6 Xander Schauffele is the betting favorite to win at +700 odds, followed by Collin Morikawa (+1200), Sungjae Im (+1400), Hideki Matsuyama (+1600) and Rickie Fowler (+1600). Reigning champion Keegan Bradley is +2200 to repeat. 

With the most talented field of the fall swing on deck, let's target some outright bets for the 2023 Zozo Championship.

Sungjae Im (+1400 FanDuel)

The Zozo Championship has been a tournament of chalk since its inception in 2020. The four winners at the Zozo have been Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay and Tiger Woods, so we're sticking to the top of the board with our first outright pick.

Sungjae finished the 2022-23 season with three top-15 finishes in his last four starts. He then competed earlier this month at the Asian Games, where he and Si Woo Kim led South Korea to a gold medal in golf. And last week, Im finished T2 at the Genesis Championship on the Korean Tour. 

Im is entering the Zozo Championship in great form, and he finished T3 at Narashino Country Club back in 2020. 

Keegan Bradley (+2200 DraftKings)

It's no secret Bradley loves this golf course.

Not only did the veteran win the Zozo Championship last year, but he also finished T7 and T13 in his two previous starts at Narashino Country Club. There's no reason he should be priced behind names such as Cam Davis and Sahith Theegala.

This will be Bradley's first start since he received the emotional phone call from Zach Johnson informing him that he wouldn't be on the Ryder Cup team, so he has something extra to prove this week.

Cameron Champ (+5000 FD)

Champ was one of the worst players on the PGA Tour for the 2022-23 season. The bomber missed 15 cuts in 26 starts and ranked near the bottom of the list in almost every short-game statistic.

But Champ has always been a streaky player who can pop on any given week, and he's finally starting to show some signs of life. He finished T9 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and held the 36-hole lead at last week's Shriners Children's Open before falling back on the weekend. His best finish last season also came at Narashino Country Club, where he finished solo eighth in his first Zozo Championship start.

Champ is worth a sprinkle at this price.

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