Golf Tips: Find the expert's best bets for ZOZO and Genesis Championships

• ZOZO to see more Woodland improvement at 54/155.00

• Beau is a bet in Japan at 47/148.00

• Brandon Stone backed for Genesis glory at 45/146.00

• Plus outsiders to back, FRL, course info, players' form and more

ZOZO Championship Tips and Predictions

The Punter: Bank on Beau at 47/1

Steve Rawlings: "The cream has risen to the top at Narashino CC and all four course winners to date have been major champions with form at one major venue coming to the fore in every edition here.

"With four top-30 finishes from eight starts, Keegan Bradley doesn't have a great record at the US Masters but the man to finish second to him, Rickie Fowler, often plays well at Augusta and the first four home in the inaugural edition here all had strong form at Augusta too.

"Tiger Woods and Hideki Matsuyama have both won the US Masters, Rory McIlroy famously traded at long odds-on at the 2011 US Masters and Sungjae Im finished second to Dustin Johnson in 2020 on his first appearance at Augusta National.

"Matsuyama went one better and won the event in 2021 and last year's winner here, Morikawa, has Augusta form figures reading 44-18-5-10-3. Like Narashino, Augusta is tree-lined so anyone that's shown a liking for that course may enjoy this one.

"It's also worth looking back to the 2021 Olympics played at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama. That too is a traditional tree-lined Japanese course so it's an obvious place to look for clues.

"Only Kensei Hirata, who finished tied for sixth, played the par threes better than Morikawa last year, the 2022 runner-up, Fowler, played the short holes better than anyone else, and Woods in 2019 and Matsuyama in 2021 both outscored everyone on the par threes so the Par 3 performance stats might be worth checking out given 20 of the 72 holes played this week are short ones...

"With current form figures reading 12-MC-2-11-23, and course numbers of 16-2, Beau Hossler is hard to ignore. He's yet to win on the PGA Tour but he's twice been beaten in a playoff, and this looks like a brilliant opportunity for him to get off the mark."

Each-way Tips: Picks from 35/1 to 75/1

Dave Tindall: "Gary Woodland has had some tough times over the last year and said he feared for his life after needing surgery to partially remove a tumour from his brain. Understandably, it's taken him a while to find his feet again but, more and more, there are signs of the great golf that helped him win the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach.

"In two Fall Series starts, Woodland has finished 16th in the Sanderson Farms Championship and ninth in last week's Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas. Given what's required this week in terms of strong iron play, it stands out that he found over 80% of greens in regulation in both events, ranking third and 11th respectively for GIR.

"Woodland has always been a good traveller too which boosts his chances here. He's only played this event once but made a mark, shooting 64-66-68-70 to finish fifth the year Tiger won. The American is also a two-time runner-up at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and was fifth the last time he played it.

"If Woodland's upturn continues, the 55/1 will look generous and a victory for the 40-year-old would continue another theme here as every ZOZO winner at Narashino has been a major champion."

First Round Leader Picks between 50/1 & 55/1

Dave Tindall: "There are definitely some better things going on in Rickie Fowler's game after a disappointing season.

"Eight straight rounds in the 60s since he returned after nearly two-and-a-half months off helped him finish 16th in the Sanderson Farms and 23rd at last week's Shriners.

"In the latter he opened with a 66 and I'm going to back him for another quick start here.

"This is a man who posted a 62 on day one of the 2023 US Open - the joint-lowest score ever shot in a major.

"More recently, a 64 put him second after round one of June's Travelers Championship while a week later he fired an opening 66 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic bid to sit fourth.

"At this event, Fowler was the 36 and 54-hole leader in 2022 after starting out 67-63-66. A closing 70 saw him finish runner-up.

"Always a special place for him given that his maternal grandfather is Japanese, Fowler looks a good bet at 50s."

Course and current form stats

Andy Swales: "It is a lush and gently rolling tree-lined course that is extremely well bunkered, with water in play on five holes. Every hole has two available putting surfaces, which are generally smaller than the PGA Tour average.

"Solid ball strikers, who can accurately guide their shots along the tight fairways of this parkland venue, should benefit most at Narashino. The key is to avoid the many heavily-wooded areas which run alongside fairways. There are also a handful of interesting dog-legs to manoeuvre the ball around...

"All four previous winners at Narashino were already major champions. And if that trend continues this week, then the winner will come from one of five golfers (Schauffele, Morikawa, Matsuyama, Thomas, Woodland).

"Of this quintet, maybe Hideki Matsuyama 8/1 represents the best option, as the 32-year-old from Japan chases a second victory in this event. He's won two prestigious titles on the PGA Tour this season, but hasn't competed over 72 holes since the Tour Championship."

Genesis Championship Tips and Predictions

Brandon Stone backed in Korea at 45/1

Steve Rawlings: "The Korean pair, Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An, head the market at 9/1 and 11/1 respectively and if forced to pick one of the two it would be Kim. The 22-year-old missed the cut in Vegas last week when seeking a third straight victory at the Shriners Children's Open, but he was on the wrong side of the very lopsided draw and it's a performance we can readily ignore.

"That was also Kim's first start in more than two months so he may well be sharper this week and he'll certainly be involved if he reproduces the bits and pieces of form in the summer that saw him finish fourth at the Canadian Open, second at the Travelers Championship and eighth at the Olympics. But he may just have been handicapped by the draw again.

"It's still early days to take the forecasts too seriously but PM-AM looks to be the worst side if Friday morning transpires to be as blowy as predicted...

"It's now six years since Brandon Stone won his third DP World Tour title at the Scottish Open when he charged home on Sunday to win by four when he posted a sensational 60 in round four at Gullane.

"The fact that he still hasn't added to his tally is a bit of a mystery, but it could all be down to application given he's only recently bucked his ideas up again as the threat of losing his playing privileges increased.

"He's as safe as houses now in 73^rd place and a place in the field at the Abu Dhabi Championship is now in his sights after an impressive run of form.

"He missed the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but that's the only blemish in his last six starts and there have been one or two big hints that he might just be ready to win again."

Each-Way Tips: 55/1 Richie Ramsay is a neat fit

Matt Cooper: "The Scotsman is not threatened by the loss of his card this week but, ranked 79th in the Race to Dubai, he is sufficiently motivated to travel by the lure of making the top 70 and qualifying for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship event in two weeks time (and maybe the top 50 who travel on to the DP World Tour Championship).

"He's played quite nicely in the post-summer break period, making six of eight cuts, and he was T20th last week in Sotogrande at the Andalucia Masters. He's been putting well through that period, better than for a while and he ranked second in the field in Spain.

"The Scotsman is also a decent performer on Jack Nicklaus tests and that is always of interest because winners on such courses have usually proved themselves when faced with the standard Nicklaus dynamic.

"What is that? It tends to mean wide fairways but one side will be beneficial for attacking the greens and, more importantly, the approach shots (and specifically distance control) will be tested into the greens.

"Ramsay won the 2009 South African Open at Pearl Valley and he has also finished fourth at Mount Juliet, fifth at Ullna, and ninth and T18th at the London GC. He played this course and event last year, making the cut, ranking 12th for Strokes Gained Off the Tee and 19th for Putting."

Form stats for this week's tournament in Korea

Andy Swales: "Both fairways and greens are seeded with Bent grass, while sand is in abundance. Sizeable water hazards are present on 11 holes, and are particularly prevalent on the back-nine;

"This week's tournament in Korea offers members of the DP World Tour their final opportunity to qualify for next week's Rolex Series event in Abu Dhabi where the field size will be restricted to the top 70 available players in the Race to Dubai standings...

"One Korean outsider who may be worth following this week is Jung Hwan Lee 100/1. Jung was 10th here last year, as well as runner-up in 2018. His current form is pretty solid too, with three top 10s from his most recent five starts."

Find me a 100.099/1 winner - Andrew Wilson

Steve Rawlings: "After several decent performances, England's Andrew Wilson is in a similar position on the Race to Dubai as Hisatsune is on the FedEx Cup Standings and at number 107 following last week's fast finishing tied 14^th in Spain, his playing privileges for next year look secured.

"Having begun last week in 120^th place in the standings, the 29-year-old knew he needed a good week so his bogey-free 65 on Sunday (which was the best round of the day) that moved him up 26 places on the leaderboard was a phenomenal knock - especially bearing in mind that he birdied the first three holes and so had plenty of time to get ahead of himself and mess it up.

"His finish on Sunday was the fourth time he'd finished inside the top 14 since the end of June following a 10^th paced finish in the Italian Open, a 14^th at the Danish Golf Championship and a ninth placed finish at the British Masters.

"It's been an impressive enough grind since June to get him to where he is now, and should he make it through to the weekend he'll be in a position to freewheel.

"Greens In Regulation was the key stat in last year's Korea Championship so the fact that he's ranked sixth, 13^th, 13^th and seventh for that sat on the last four occasions that he's made it though to the weekend bodes well and he's also got what could potentially be the favourable AM-PM draw."

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