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2021 Zozo Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Narashino CC

By Mike Randleman

Sep 2, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Hideki Matsuyama plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the Tour Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 2, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Hideki Matsuyama plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the Tour Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 26, 2021; Haven, Wisconsin, USA; Team Europe player Paul Casey plays his shot from the fourth tee during day three singles rounds for the 43rd Ryder Cup golf competition at Whistling Straits. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2021; Haven, Wisconsin, USA; Team Europe player Paul Casey plays his shot from the fourth tee during day three singles rounds for the 43rd Ryder Cup golf competition at Whistling Straits. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

Many weeks, posting 68-65-70-68 will win you a trophy on the PGA Tour. Or at least, it will net you a top-10. For Paul Casey, all it was good for last week at the CJ Cup was T-25th.

It was a birdie fest at The Summit Club. While Casey couldn’t quite keep up, it was still a step in the right direction after some shaky recent results. His previous three outings failed to finish better than T-38th.

The 44-year-old Englishman made no double bogeys or worse at The Summit Club and was seventh in strokes gained putting (4.685 total). Casey was 124th on the PGA Tour in 2020-21 in that stat, so he’ll look to keep the flat stick rolling just as well in Japan.

The recent dry spell was a departure from an otherwise prosperous 2021. Casey peaked early in the year with a win on the European Tour at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and tacked on nine more top-10s in just 21 starts in 2021.

He quietly finished second on the PGA Tour in SG approach (.895), albeit miles behind Collin Morikawa (1.17), who we’ll hear more from later.

Casey teed it up at Narashino Country Club in 2019. He fired 69-69-68-67 to finish T-17th. The Arizona State alum was T-3rd in greens in regulation (55/72, 76.39%) and seventh in putts per green in regulation (1.691).

His game appears to be a good fit for the tight, tree-lined layout challenging players this week at the Zozo Championship. Casey was a respectable 41st in driving distance (303.9) and 81st in driving accuracy (62.2%).

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