The PGA Tour heads to Japan this week for the ZOZO Championship, the first of three straight events held outside the United States.
It will also have the strongest—albeit limited—field of any tournament contested during the PGA Tour Fall, the nine-event schedule that helps determine status and eligibility thresholds for 2025. Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele will play this week, the first time doing so since they helped the United States defeat the Internationals at Royal Montreal. So, too, will Max Homa and Sahith Theegala, two other members of Team USA.
Justin Thomas, who golf fans last saw at the Tour Championship, will return to Japan for the first time since 2019. Tiger Woods won the ZOZO that year, clinching his 82nd PGA Tour title, which tied Sam Snead for the most all-time. Woods, of course, is not playing this week.
But perhaps the biggest name this week is Hideki Matsuyama, who has become one of Japan’s most famous athletes. He won this event three years ago by five shots but turned in a T-40 and a T-51 in his last two starts at the ZOZO.
Matsuyama has had a strong 2024 season, highlighted by wins at the Genesis Invitational and the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. He has seven top-10s overall. The 2021 Masters winner did pull out of the BMW Championship in August, citing a lower back injury, but returned to the Tour Championship in Atlanta the following week. He tied for 9th. He also showed no signs of pain at last month’s Presidents Cup, the last time Matsuyama played. He won two points for the Internationals.
Matsuyama, currently the seventh-ranked player in the world, should lurk toward the top of the leaderboard if he continues to play without discomfort. And if he were to go on to win, it would align with Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers competing in the World Series—a massive moment for Japanese sport on the international stage.
Other notables in this week’s field include Joel Dahmen, who withdrew from the Shriners Children’s Open after receiving a 4-shot penalty, Gary Woodland, who just posted his best finish since his traumatic brain surgery a year ago, and Rickie Fowler, a fan-favorite wherever he goes. Min Woo Lee, Matt Kuchar, and Will Zalatoris will also play this week, too.
Since Japan Standard Time is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time, first-round coverage begins on Golf Channel at 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
