Four Canadian golfers are set to compete in PGA Tour competition at the Zozo Championship that will take place Thursday, Oct. 22 through Sunday, Oct. 25. This event was supposed to be held in Japan but instead has been moved to California to Sherwood Country Club due to COVID-19. The Zozo Championship will have 78 golfers participating, and it will be a no-cut event.
Tiger Woods won this event in 2019 and will once again be in the field. Another item to note is Adam Scott will not participate as he tested positive for the coronavirus.
Canadian golfers Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin will compete in the Zozo Championship this weekend. Let’s get to know a little more about each golfer and preview what to expect from each golfer.
Mackenzie Hughes
Hughes is currently ranked No. 57 according to the 2020 Official World Golf Rankings. He competed in three events so far in the 2021 PGA Tour season, which began in mid-September. Hughes missed the cut at the U.S. Open and was tied for 65th in the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek. In between those performances was a third-place finish in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
Hughes is in the first group to get started on Thursday at 12:50 p.m. ET alongside Carlos Ortiz and Takumi Kanaya. Hughes did not participate in this event in 2019.
Corey Conners
Conners checks in at 70th in the Official World Golf Rankings. He competed in four events so far this season and made the cut twice. He failed to make it through the U.S. Open and Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. In his last two events, Conners finished in a tie for 17th in the Sanderson Farms Championship and tied for 61st in the CJ Cup.
Conners is among the third group to begin the round on Thursday at 1:12 p.m. ET. He will be paired with Tyler Duncan and Tony Finau. Conners finished in a tie for sixth place with Billy Horschel in this same event in 2019.
Nick Taylor
Taylor is listed at No. 113 in Official World Golf Rankings. In three events so far this season, he failed to make the cut twice in the Sanderson Farms Championship and Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. In his most recent event, Taylor finished in a tie for 61st place in the CJ Cup.
Taylor will get his first round started at hole No. 10 with the 2:29 p.m. ET group, which includes Kevin Na and Adam Long. Taylor did not participate in the Zozo Championship last year.
Adam Hadwin
Entering this weekend’s action, Hadwin is ranked 66th in Official World Golf Rankings. Hadwin has made the cut in all three of the events he participated in so far this season. He finished 54th in the U.S. Open, tied for 34th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and tied for 28th in the CJ Cup.
Hadwin will be part of the final group of the day to tee off at 3:02 p.m. ET with Talor Gooch and Mikumu Horikawa. Hadwin inished in a tie for 41st place along with Chan Kim, Viktor Hovland, Abraham Ancer and Vaughn Taylor in the 2019 Zozo Championship.
Now that you have a closer look at what the four Canadian golfers have done so far early in this PGA Tour seaosn, let’s check out the odds for this weekend’s event. All odds are via a popular United States sportsbook.
Zozo Championship Betting
Winner
Jon Rahm is currently listed as the betting favorite to win the event at +1000, followed by Xander Schauffele (+1100), Rory McIlroy (+1200), Justin Thomas (+1200) and Collin Morikawa (+1600) in the top five.
Hadwin is the top Canadian golfer on the odds list, tied for 37th best odds to win it at +11000. Conners checks in at No. 50 with +15000 odds, Hughes is tied for 52nd best odds at +17500 and Taylor is slotted at No. 62 best odds at +40000.
Individual matchups
The sportsbook paired several golfers together, allowing bettors to wager on which golfer will perform better between the two in the first round of the tournament. Hadwin, Conners and Hughes have all been slotted against specific competitors.
Hughes is a slight favorite over Carlos Ortiz in the first round.
- Mackenzie Hughes +100
- Carlos Ortiz +115
- Tie +800
Conners is an underdog heading into the first round matchup with Tony Finau.
- Corey Conners +165
- Tie +800
- Tony Finau -143
Talor Gooch is a very slight favorite to finish with a better score than Hadwin in Round 1.
- Adam Hadwin +110
- Tie +800
- Kevin Kisner +105
Nationality Prop
The sportsbook added lines to determine which golfers would perform the best from each nationality. On the Canadian side, Hughes is the favorite to finish with the best score among the four.
- Mackenzie Hughes +187
- Corey Conners +225
- Adam Hadwin +225
- Nick Taylor +500