The First Look: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

The PGA TOUR heads back to Japan for the fourth iteration of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Japan’s favorite modern golfing son, Hideki Matsuyama, will headline the field as he looks to defend his title from last season.

Matsuyama captured the 2021 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP by five shots.

FIELD NOTES: World No. 5 Xander Schauffele, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, is the top-ranked player in the field. He is joined by world No. 9 Collin Morikawa … Schuaffele and Morikawa are joined by fellow U.S. Team Presidents Cup member Cameron Young, who is making his event debut (and first trip to Japan) … There’s plenty of International Team Presidents Cup flair in Japan as Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Corey Conners, K.H. Lee, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Cam Davis, Si Woo Kim, Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz are all in the field. Pereira held the 36-hole lead at the Shriners Children’s Open … Matsuyama leads the home-country contingent. The event is co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) once again for 2022 and there will be more than a dozen members of the JGTO teeing it up … Mackenzie Hughes returns to action after his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship … Sponsor exemptions include Matt Wallace, who finished T4 last season, along with TOUR winners Cameron Champ, Satoshi Kodaira and Rickie Fowler … European Ryder Cup teammates Viktor Hovland (ranked No. 11 in the world) and Tommy Fleetwood are also in the field.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, par 70, 7,079 yards. About 40 yards have been added to the official scorecard at the Narashino Country Club for this year’s iteration of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. The 36-hole facility in Chiba, Japan, was opened in 1965 and played host to a number of high-level golf events in its history before the PGA TOUR arrived in 2019. Designed by Shinya Fujita and east of Tokyo, it’s a stunning parkland layout.

STORYLINES: The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will once again have a 78-man field, four rounds and no cut. A full 500 FedExCup points will be awarded to the winner … Tiger Woods and Matsuyama won the two ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP events to take place in Japan, while Patrick Cantlay won the event in 2020, which was moved to Sherwood, California … Matsuyama is looking to successfully defend a title on the PGA TOUR for the second time (he won the WM Phoenix Open in 2016 and 2017) … Plenty of youthful Japanese firepower will be teeing it up at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Two Mark H. McCormack Medal winners in Keita Nakajima and Takumi Kanaya will be in the field along with 20-year-old Ryo Hisatsune, who just turned professional.

72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Tiger Woods (2019)

18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Keegan Bradley (Round 1, 2019), Rory McIlroy (Round 3, 2019), Hiroshi Iwata (Round 1, 2021), Naoto Nakanishi (Round 4, 2021).

Tournament record: 61, Richy Werenski (Round 2, 2020 at Sherwood)

LAST TIME: Japan’s own Hideki Matsuyama had a flurry of a finish to win the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP last season by five shots. The Masters champion made three birdies in a five-hole stretch on his back nine Sunday – and eagled the par-5 closing hole to put a bow on the week – to top runners-up Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale. Matsuyama closed with a 65 and a 15-under total to capture a TOUR title for the seventh time. He won eight times in Japan previously, including in 2011 as an amateur, but was unable to medal at the Tokyo Olympics so this win was a measure of revenge. Matsuyama held a one-shot lead through 54 holes but that was erased by Tringale by the 10th hole Sunday, as the Georgia Tech alum jumped into the first-place position after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 9 and 10. That’s when Matsuyama turned it on, however. Matsuyama’s closing eagle featured a beautiful fairway wood from 241 yards which nearly found the bottom of the cup for an albatross. Mackenzie Hughes, Matt Wallace and Sebastian Munoz rounded out the top five.

HOW TO FOLLOW:

Television: Wednesday (into Thursday)-Thursday (into Friday): 11 p.m.-3 a.m. ET (Golf Channel). Friday (into Saturday), 10:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. Saturday (into Sunday): 11 p.m.-3 a.m.