PGA Tour Betting: Can Collin Morikawa Snap Winless Streak at ZOZO Championship?
See this PGA Tour handle and ticket information from BetMGM
It’s been a long time since Collin Morikawa won a golf event.
The 25-year-old’s last win worldwide came at the DP World Tour Championship in November 2021, and his last PGA Tour win was the 2021 Open Championship (July), so it’s been almost 15 months since he’s won on Tour. But, still, in the top 10 of the official World Golf Rankings (No. 9), he’s remained popular in golf betting.
With +1400 golf odds to win this week at the ZOZO Championship, could this be the week he gets back in the winner’s circle? Bettors at the BetMGM online sportsbook believe so.
As of Tuesday, Morikawa is pulling in the most tickets (8.9%) and the second-most handle (16.8%). And it’s easy to see why.
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan appears to be a nice fit for Morikawa. His excellent iron play and driving accuracy will serve him well with the tree-lined fairways and numerous bunkers and water hazards. Additionally, bentgrass greens are the ones he performs best on – just look at his runner-up finish at Charles Schwab Challenge and a fifth-place finish at the Masters last year.
Morikawa also had a T-7 finish a year ago at the event, which will give him some confidence entering the week. He’s also coming off a solid showing at the Presidents Cup, where he went 2-1 in his matches, including a Sunday singles win over Mito Pereira.
The other big betting favorite is defending champion Hideki Matsuyama, who has seen his odds shift from +1400 to +1300. Matsuyama has the most handle at a whopping 17.9%.
Besides winning in 2021, he finished second to Tiger Woods in 2019 (the 2020 event was held at Sherwood Country Club). His course history along with support from the home crowd should help him greatly this week.
Current Handle & Tickets
Handle
- Hideki Matsuyama – 17.9%
- Collin Morikawa – 16.8%
- Viktor Hovland – 7.7%
- Kurt Kitayama – 7%
- Sungjae Im – 6.6%
Tickets
- Colin Morikawa – 8.9%
- Viktor Hovland– 6.2%
- Tom Kim – 5.5%
- Xander Schauffele– 5.4%
- Sungjae Im – 5.4%
Sungjae Im (+1000) is another popular player this week. The 24-year-old quietly has six straight top-20 finishes overall and a solid showing at the Presidents Cup. Xander Schauffele (+800) has the best golf odds to win and is generating 5.4% of the tickets and 3.5% of the handle.
As for what to expect with scoring, there should be a decent amount of birdies. Matsuyama finished the tournament at 15-under a year ago, and Woods was 19-under in 2019. Avoiding bogeys will be crucial to playing well this week.
Ryan Hannable is a copy editor on the Web Content Team for BetMGM. Previously, he was a New England Patriots beat writer for WEEI in Boston. He also has published a golf book, “The Ultimate Book of Golf Trivia: 600 Questions and Answers.”
