The PGA Tour heads to Japan for this week's ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP for an all-caps extravaganza.
We've got just one event from Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, but there isn't a lot of data accompanying it -- no Shotlink or even driving distance stats.
So, can we glean anything about the course and how it'll affect this week's field? Of course we can.
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club Course Information
Par: 70
Distance: 7,041
Average Green Size: N/A
Green Type: N/A
Stimpmeter: N/A
Past 5 Winning Scores: -19 (Tiger Woods in 2020)
Past 5 Cut Lines: N/A
The inaugural no-cut event -- then the first PGA Tour event held in Japan -- was won by Tiger Woods, who beat the runner-up, Hideki Matsuyama, by three shots. Behind Matsuyama were Sungjae Im (-13) and Rory McIlroy (-13), coincidentally the past two winners on the PGA Tour this year.
In total, nine golfers finished at least 10 under par, and as is typical with a no-cut event, a number of golfers finished the four-round event over par (30 of the 76 did that).
Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club Hole-by-Hole Breakdown
| Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club | Par | Yards | vs Average PGA Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 405 | 94% |
| 2 | 4 | 363 | 84% |
| 3 | 3 | 180 | 91% |
| 4 | 4 | 505 | 117% |
| 5 | 3 | 191 | 97% |
| 6 | 5 | 587 | 104% |
| 7 | 3 | 167 | 85% |
| 8 | 4 | 395 | 92% |
| 9 | 4 | 486 | 113% |
| 10 | 4 | 376 | 87% |
| 11 | 4 | 486 | 113% |
| 12 | 4 | 490 | 114% |
| 13 | 3 | 141 | 72% |
| 14 | 5 | 608 | 108% |
| 15 | 4 | 425 | 99% |
| 16 | 3 | 183 | 93% |
| 17 | 4 | 491 | 114% |
| 18 | 5 | 562 | 100% |
| Total | 70 | 7041 | 98% |
The course has a mix of long and short holes in relation to the average hole on the PGA Tour.
There are four short holes, two of them being short par 4s and the other two being short par 3s. The five notably long holes all come in the form of par 4s rating out at least 486 yards (the PGA Tour average is around 430 yards for a par 4).
Data shows what we'd expect: driving distance does matter for the week.
Key Stats for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Driving Distance
- Birdie or Better Rate
- Strokes Gained: Putting
datagolf's course fit tool shows a heavy emphasis on driving distance at Accordia, and the top performers here all fit as guys who aren't short with the driver.
You also need birdies over a four-round event, and just making pars and avoiding bogeys isn't going to get it done, so we should emphasize birdie-makers once again.
Golfers With Course History at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club
These golfers played here back in 2020.
| Golfer | Finish |
|---|---|
| Hideki Matsuyama | 2 |
| Ryan Palmer | 10 |
| Xander Schauffele | 10 |
| Keegan Bradley | 13 |
| Paul Casey | 17 |
| Sunghoon Kang | 17 |
| Adam Schenk | 22 |
| Collin Morikawa | 22 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 22 |
| Harold Varner III | 27 |
| Emiliano Grillo | 30 |
| Troy Merritt | 30 |
| Joaquin Niemann | 33 |
| Satoshi Kodaira | 37 |
| Si-woo Kim | 37 |
| Chan Kim | 41 |
| Kevin Na | 46 |
| Tomoharu Otsuki | 46 |
| Wyndham Clark | 46 |
| Adam Long | 51 |
| Pat Perez | 51 |
| Rikuya Hoshino | 51 |
| Jinichiro Kozuma | 57 |
| Andrew Putnam | 59 |
| C.T. Pan | 59 |
| Shugo Imahira | 59 |