rory.png
USATSI

Tiger Woods has captured 82 PGA Tour titles, tied with Sam Snead for the most in history, and he is set to defend the crown he last won beginning Thursday at the 2020 Zozo Championship. Woods, who won the inaugural Zozo Championship last year in Japan, is teeing it up for the first time since missing the cut at the U.S. Open. For Woods to leapfrog Snead and hoist the Zozo Championship trophy, he will also have to overcome an elite 78-player field assembled at Sherwood Country Club outside Los Angeles that includes big names such as Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas.

Rahm, the second-ranked player in the world, is the 10-1 favorite in the 2020 Zozo Championship odds from William Hill. Xander Schauffele is at 11-1, and both McIlroy and Thomas are at 12-1. Woods faces much longer odds at 33-1 on the PGA odds board. Before locking in your 2020 Zozo Championship picks or entering any PGA DFS tournaments on sites like DraftKings or FanDuel, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been on fire since the return of the PGA Tour in June. In fact, it's up over $13,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.

After nailing Sergio Garcia (+5500) finishing on top of the leaderboard at the Sanderson Farms Championship, McClure finished up over $6,200 yet again on his best bets. The model had him in the top five from the start and McClure's best bets included Garcia winning outright. Those who followed that advice saw a massive +5500 return. 

He also finished profitable at the U.S. Open, nailing two of his best bets, including a +1100 top-five bet on Matthew Wolff. McClure hit a top-five bet (+1200) on Doc Redman at the Wyndham Championship, finishing up over $700 on his best bets. 

The model was all over Dustin Johnson (8-5) finishing on top of the leaderboard at the Tour Championship and Justin Thomas winning the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at 12-1. And at the 3M Open, McClure's best bets returned a whopping $1,100 as he nailed a top-five pick on Max Homa (+1200) and a top-20 pick on Talor Gooch (+400). Those are just some of his recent big returns. 

In all, the advanced computer model has also nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed its golf picks has seen massive returns. 

Now that the 2020 Zozo Championship field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.

The model's top 2020 Zozo Championship predictions 

One huge shocker the model is calling for at the Zozo Championship 2020: Woods, an 82-time PGA Tour champion, stumbles and doesn't even crack the top 10. Woods has been sensational throughout his career at Sherwood Country Club. In fact, he's recorded a victory in five of his 12 starts at the Hero World Challenge, which is held at Sherwood, from 2000 to 2013. However, Woods has been extremely inconsistent since winning the Zozo Championship last year, finishing outside the top-40 five times in his last six starts on the PGA Tour. 

Woods missed the cut at the U.S. Open in September and his inconsistent performances can be directly attributed to his inability to find the fairway off the tee. The 15-time major champion finished with a 57.22 driving accuracy percentage last season, which doesn't bode well for his chances to finish on top of the leaderboard this week. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in the Zozo Championship 2020 field.

Another surprise: Webb Simpson, a 20-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. Simpson has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.

The eighth-ranked player in the world, Simpson already has two solid starts on his 2020-21 PGA Tour wraparound schedule. Simpson finished eighth at the U.S. Open, and followed it up with a 13th-place performance at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The seven-time PGA Tour winner led all players in scoring average last season, scoring 68.978 per round.

Simpson has history at Sherwood CC, finishing fifth, seventh and 13th in three past unofficial events. With plenty of game and a solid track record at the host course, Simpson should be considered as a prime betting choice for 2020 Zozo Championship bets. 

How to make 2020 Zozo Championship picks

Also, the model is targeting five other golfers with odds of 20-1 or higher to make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big. You can only see them here.

So who wins the Zozo Championship 2020? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2020 Zozo Championship leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed six golf majors and is up over $13,000 since the restart, and find out. 

2020 Zozo Championship odds (via William Hill)

Jon Rahm 10-1
Xander Schauffele 11-1
Rory McIlroy 12-1
Justin Thomas 12-1
Tyrrell Hatton 20-1
Webb Simpson 20-1
Collin Morikawa 22-1
Patrick Reed 22-1
Bubba Watson 25-1
Matthew Wolff 28-1
Daniel Berger 28-1
Hideki Matsuyama 28-1
Tony Finau 28-1
Patrick Cantlay 28-1
Viktor Hovland 30-1
Harris English 30-1
Patrick Cantlay 30-1
Joaquin Niemann 33-1
Tiger Woods 33-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 33-1
Tommy Fleetwood 33-1
Russell Henley 40-1
Jason Kokrak 40-1
Abraham Ancer 40-1
Sungjae Im 40-1
Scottie Scheffler 40-1
Jason Day 40-1
Rickie Fowler 50-1
Phil Mickelson 60-1
Paul Casey 66-1
Billy Horschel 66-1
Cameron Smith 66-1
Sebastian Munoz 70-1
Jordan Spieth 80-1
Brian Harman 80-1
Cameron Champ 80-1
Justin Rose 80-1
Gary Woodland 80-1
Brendon Todd 80-1
Talor Gooch 80-1
Ryan Palmer 90-1
Kevin Na 100-1
Alex Noren 100-1
Marc Leishman 100-1
Kevin Streelman 100-1
Kevin Kisner 100-1
Lanto Griffin 100-1
Harry Higgs 100-1
Corey Conners 125-1
Mackenzie Hughes 125-1
Adam Hadwin 125-1
Byeong Hun An 125-1
Danny Lee 125-1
Adam Long 125-1
Joel Dahmen 150-1
Brendan Steele 150-1