2021 ZOZO Championship: Round 3 Matchups

Oct 22, 2021

4for4 Illustrations

On a dreary rain-filled round with temperatures in the low 50s, scoring difficulty more than doubled on Friday as players averaged 0.74 strokes over par. The weather seemed to have little effect on the stoic Hideki Matsuyama who overcame the elements to shoot a 2-under par 68 and take a one-shot lead into Saturday's third round. He remained brilliant with his approach game throughout the second round, now hitting 89% of greens in regulation for the tournament. As predicted, first-round leader Hiroshi Iwata struggled off the first tee and faded back into seventh place, shooting 3-over par for his round. Four different players tied in shooting the low round of the day at 4-under par, including Cameron Tringale, who sits alone in second place, one shot behind Matsuyama at 7-under. Other challengers include Matt Wallace and Brendan Steele at 6-under, followed by Joaquin Niemann and Tommy Fleetwood at 5-under. While the rain will be cleared out for Saturday's third round, winds will be blowing in the 15-20 MPH range, presenting a whole new challenge for golfers.

From a betting perspective, if you have been tailing along with the outright picks, we currently have five selections in the top seven on the leaderboard in Matsuyama, Wallace, Fleetwood, Noren and Munoz. Only four shots back, Munoz still holds some value at +3500. Another longshot to keep an eye on is Mackenzie Hughes (+9000). He is currently six shots back but is leading the field in ball-striking. His putter, which is usually his main strength, has let him down thus far. He tees off at 8:55 PM EST. If he makes a couple of early birdies I will be jumping all over him. We do not have Strokes Gained this week, so there will be no Round Data Chart.