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 (J.T. Poston)
THIS WEEK: Zozo Championship, Chiba, Japan, Oct. 24-27
Course: Accordia Golf Narashino CC (Par 70, 7,079 Yards)
Purse: $8.5M (Winner: $1.53M)
Defending Champion: Collin Morikawa
FedEx Cup Champion: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Wednesday-Saturday, 11 p.m.-3 a.m. ET (All times Golf Channel)
X: @ZozoChamp
NOTES: The no-cut event is the fifth of eight tournaments on the FedEx Cup Fall schedule, which finalizes the top 125 players who will retain exempt status for 2025. Nos. 126-150 after the fall will retain conditional status. Players who finished Nos. 51-70 in the FedEx Cup have secured their tour cards, but are competing for spots in the first two signature events after the season-opening The Sentry on Jan. 2-5. … The tournament scoring record of 261 was set by Tiger Woods in the inaugural event in 2019, and represents Woods’ most recent title. … The 72-player field includes 48 who competed in Las Vegas last week, 30 of whom made the cut at the Shriners. Joel Dahmen, who withdrew after suffering a four-stroke penalty for too many clubs in his back, also is playing this week. He is currently 129th in the standings … Chiba native Kaito Onishi will make his sixth career PGA Tour start after becoming the fourth Japanese player to earn his membership via the Korn Ferry Tour. Onishi moved to Los Angeles with his mother at age 9 and went on to play for Southern Cal from 2017-21. … The event, which was first played in 2019, is co-sanctioned with the Japan Golf Tour Organization and the field includes 14 JGTO members.
BEST BETS: Xander Schauffele (+400 at DraftKings) has posted a career-high 15 top-10 finishes this season, including his first two major titles. Schauffele, who won the 2021 gold medal in Tokyo, where his maternal grandparents live, makes his sixth consecutive start at the Zozo. … Morikawa (+700) has not won a stroke-play event since the Zozo last year as he attempts to become the first player to successfully defend at the Zozo. This is his first start since the Tour Championship, where he did post the lowest 72-hole score. … Hideki Matsuyama (+800), who is from Ehime, Japan, won the event in 2021 and was the runner-up in 2019. He also has two wins this year … Justin Thomas (+1800) finished T2 at the 2020 Zozo, which was played at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. This is his first start at Accordia.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: World Wide Technology Championship, Los Cabos, Mexico, Nov. 7-10
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: BMW Ladies Championship (Hannah Green)
THIS WEEK: Maybank Championship, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct. 24-27
Course: Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (Par 72, 6,536 Yards)
Purse: $3M (Winner: $450,000)
Defending Champion: Celine Boutier
Race to the CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Wednesday-Saturday: 9:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)
X: @MaybankChampion
NOTES: This is the third of the Tour’s four-event fall Asia swing. It is a no-cut event featuring a 78-player field. Boutier defeated Jeeno Thitijul on the ninth playoff hole last year after both set the tournament scoring record of 21-under 267. … World No. 1 Nelly Korda will not play due to a neck injury she suffered during practice that also kept her out of the BMW Ladies Championship. Ayaka Furue and Haeran Ryu, who are in this week’s field, are the only players who can mathematically catch Korda in the Player of the Year race. Furue would need to win four events to have a chance to surpass Korda, while Ryu would need to win five.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Toto Japan Classic, Otsu-shi, Shiga, Japan, Oct. 31-Nov. 3
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
LAST TOURNAMENT: Dominion Energy Charity Classic (Tim O’Neal)
THIS WEEK: Simmons Bank Championship, Little Rock, Ark., Oct. 25-27
Course: Pleasant Valley CC (Par 72, 7,101 Yards)
Purse: $2.3M (Winner: $365,000)
Defending Champion: Inaugural Event
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Ernie Els
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
X: @SBGolfChamp
NOTES: This is the second event of the three-tournament playoffs and features a 51-player field competing over 54 holes. The top 36 players after this week advancing to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. … Els holds a $132,031 lead over Steven Alker for the top spot in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. Stephen Ames is another 88,488 behind Alker. … O’Neal moved from 55th to 13th in the standings with his first Champions victory last week. … This is the first Champions event to be held in Arkansas, and the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in the state since the Korn Ferry Tour’s Fort Smith Classic in 2010.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Phoenix, Nov. 7-10
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
THIS WEEK: Season Complete
2024 Champions: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Ripper GC
NEXT TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Promotions, Abu Dhabi, Dec. 8-10
–Field Level Media