Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Shriners Children’s Open (Tom Kim)
THIS WEEK: ZOZO Championship, Chiba, Japan, Oct. 13-16
Course: Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club (Par 70, 7,079 yards)
Purse: $11M (Winner: 1.98M)
Defending Champion: Hideki Matsuyama
FedEx Cup leader: Max Homa
HOW TO FOLLOW:
TV: Wednesday-Thursday 11 p.m.-3 a.m., Friday 10:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m., Saturday 11 p.m.-3 a.m. (Golf Channel)
Streaming: Wednesday-Thursday 11 p.m.-3 a.m., Friday 10:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m., Saturday 11 p.m.-3 a.m. (Peacock)
Twitter: @zozochamp
NOTES: The ZOZO is a limited-field event, where just 78 players will compete with no 36-hole cut. … The highest-ranked player in the field is world No. 5 Xander Schauffele, who won Olympic gold in 2021 in nearby Tokyo. … Matsuyama won last year’s event by five strokes over Americans Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale. … Almost the entire International Team from last month’s Presidents Cup is in the field: Matsuyama, Corey Conners of Canada, Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa, Cam Davis of Australia, Mito Pereira of Chile, Sebastian Munoz of Colombia and Koreans Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, K.H. Lee and Si Woo Kim. … Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, who won two weeks ago at the Sanderson Farms Championship, makes his return this week. … Rickie Fowler, Cameron Champ, England’s Matt Wallace and Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira are playing on sponsor exemptions.
BEST BETS: Schauffele (+850 at BetMGM) is making his season debut after winning three events last season. He was last seen placing fourth at the Tour Championship. … Im (+1000) finished seventh last week while attempting to defend his title in Las Vegas. In his only appearance at the ZOZO, he placed third in 2019. … Matsuyama (+1300) broke through last year and achieved his dream of winning a big event in his native country. But he hasn’t had a top-10 finish since coming in fourth at the U.S. Open. … Tom Kim (+1300) captured the Shriners Children’s Open title two months after the 20-year-old earned his first career win the Wyndham Championship to close the 2021-22 regular season. The last player to win two PGA Tour events before turning 21 was Tiger Woods. … Collin Morikawa (+1400) will also play for the first time this season. He tied for seventh at the ZOZO last year. … Cameron Young (+1600) is a long driver who could absolutely barrel his way around this course’s short layout.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The CJ Cup in South Carolina, Ridgeland, S.C., Oct. 20-23
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: LPGA Mediheal Championship (Jodie Ewart Shadoff)
THIS WEEK: OFF
NEXT TOURNAMENT: BMW Ladies Championship, Wonju, South Korea, Oct. 20-23
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Constellation Furyk & Friends (Steve Stricker)
THIS WEEK: SAS Championship, Cary, N.C., Oct. 14-16
Course: Prestonwood Country Club (Par 72, 7,237 yards)
Purse: $2.1M (Winner: $315,000)
Defending Champion: Lee Janzen
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steven Alker
HOW TO FOLLOW:
TV: Friday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Twitter: @SASChampionship
NOTES: The SAS Championship is the final event of the regular season. … After the tournament, the top 72 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standings will advance to the first leg of the playoffs. … If a player finishes inside the top 10 this week but doesn’t finish in the top 72 of the season-long standings, he will receive an automatic “wild card” into the playoffs, bumping the player at No. 72. The “wild card” path was introduced in 2016 but has yet to be used. … Janzen won the event last year in a playoff over Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez. It was just Janzen’s second career win on the 50-and-older circuit. … Stricker, who won his fourth tournament of the season last week, is not in the field in North Carolina.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Dominion Energy Charity Classic, Richmond, Va., Oct. 21-23
–Field Level Media
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