Golf Tips: Best bets for ZOZO Championship and Andalucia Masters

• 40/141.00 is just champion for Cameron in Tokyo

• 41/142.00 MacIntyre backed in Andalucia

• 119/1120.00 Pablo the play in his home country

ZOZO Championship Tips & Predictions

ZOZO Championship: Xander a worthy favourite

Steve Rawlings: "The course ends with one hard hole and one easy one. The long par four 17^th ranked as the hardest hole in 2019, it was the second toughest in 2021 and the fifth hardest last year, whereas the par five 18^th has been the easiest encountered in each of the three editions staged here and that's well worth bearing in mind if you're trading in-running on Sunday.

"With the 17^th half a stroke harder than the 18^th, anyone playing 18, and especially if they've driven and found the fairway, should be favoured over anyone behind them that still has the 17^th to play.

"Having won Olympic gold in Japan at Kasumigaseki Country Club in 2021, and with three top-10 finishes at Augusta, Xander Schauffele is an obvious favourite this week.

With course form figures reading 10-28-9, the Californian is yet to really shine around Narashino but he sat fourth with a round to go on debut here back in 2019 and it's surely only a matter of time before it all clicks here.

"Schauffele was rounding into form nicely when last sighted on the PGA Tour, finishing eighth in the BMW Championship and second at the Tour Championship, where he shot the lowest 72-hole total."

ZOZO Championship Each-Way Tips: Picks from 40/1 to 55/1

Dave Tindall: "Cameron Champ made his only start here last year and fired rounds of 69-67-64-69 to finish in a tie for eighth. What's really significant is that either side of that top 10 he missed six cuts, three before and three after.

"The junior/amateur results may take some digging out but we do know he came over for the Japan Tour's prestigious Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in 2019 and finished eighth, flying through the field after a slow start.

"To hammer home the point about players thriving again at a happy place, Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Brooks Koepka all won the Dunlop Phoenix in back-to-back years.

"While last year he had no form when arriving in Japan, it's a very different story in 2023. Champ is in a great space mentally, talking about being in control of his ball, confident on the greens and feeling "free spirited". After falling out of love with golf for a little while, he's now relishing being out on the course."

ZOZO Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Back Ishikawa at 100/1 to fire on Thursday

Dave Tindall: "Last week's second place shows Ryo Ishikawa can still play the game to a good level - especially on home soil.

"Ishikawa was sixth after 18 holes of his home Open and has finished day one in the top seven in three of his last four Japan Tour events. Rewind to July and he was the first-round leader in the Japan PGA Championship.

"A month earlier, and this shows that plenty of talent remains, he was also 25th after day one of the US Open at LA Country Club.

"He's played the ZOZO at this course just once but in that 2019 edition he was seventh after an opening 68. There's more than enough there to play him at the odds. Ishikawa starts out from the 10th at 09.07."

ZOZO Championship 2023: Course and current form stats

Andy Swales: "Opened in 1965, Narashino Country Club is one of Japan's most well-known layouts. This week's tournament takes place over a composite course, using holes from the club's King's and Queen's layouts.

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

"Ryo Ishikawa. the one-time PGA Tour card holde finished runner-up in Japan's national open over the weekend. Decent each-way contender."

Andalucia Masters Tips & Predcitions

Andalucía Masters: MacIntyre ready to win again

Steve Rawlings: "Fresh off his first Ryder Cup appearance, Scotland's Robert MacIntyre should be feeling on top of the world. I backed MacIntyre two weeks ago in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, but he took two days to get going before his 65 in round three on the Monday, saw him finally play golf somewhere close to his best.

"With the benefit of hindsight, that event probably came a bit too soon after his first Ryder Cup. But as the winner Matt Fitzpatrick demonstrated perfectly, winning Ryder Cuppers playing well is nothing new and a much-improved performance in Spain this week could be on the cards for the highly talented 27-year-old.

"MacIntyre finished ninth in this event 12 months ago so we know he likes this part of the world and I thought he was fractionally over-priced at 42.0."

Andalucia Masters Each-Way Tips: 66/1 Soderberg can reign in Spain

Matt Cooper: "There's a lot to like about the Swede Sebastian Soderberg this week. First up, he has some interesting form on Trent Jones Sr. layouts. Back in 2015, he was fourth at Santo da Serra in the Madeira Islands Open, an early foray into the top five on the DP World Tour. He was also second at Valderrama in this tournament back in 2021.

"That result takes us into the second factor - he's played well in Spain down the years. He was a winner on the Lakes Course at the Infinitum Resort on the third tier Nordic League in 2018 and a week after that second at Valderrama he was second in Mallorca.

"He's been a winner at this level, defeating Rory McIlroy among others in a play-off at the 2019 European Masters. Since then he's had four runner-up finishes, including that pair mentioned above, and this week is a good opportunity for him to win again."

Find Me a 100 Winner: Pablo value at 119/1 for tenth title

Steve Rawlings: "When interviewed during last week's Open de España. Pablo Larrazabal bemoaned his long game, saying it was the only thing holding him back.

"Pablo went on to say that the rest of his game is primed and that if he could only drive a little better another victory will come along soon, and his putting stats were certainly on point last week.

"The 40-year-old, who's already won nine times on the DP World Tour, including once in Spain, ranked first for Putting Average and third for Strokes Gained: Putting, so the flatstick's warming up nicely... He's worth chancing at 120.0."

Andalucía Masters: Form stats

Andy Swales: "Between August 2011 and July 2016, Real Club de Golf Sotogrande underwent a thorough restoration of its playing conditions. During this extensive upgrade; bunkers and fairway were modernised, while putting surfaces were reduced to their original size.

"Over the years, the greens had been extended by more than 40%. This project involved the construction of an extensive drainage network, while fairways were re-turfed with 419 Bermuda grass...

"Ryan Fox, the New Zealander, is on a roll right now, thanks to three podium finishes from four starts, including a prestigious victory at Wentworth last month. Is currently No 3 in the Race to Dubai standings."