PGA Tour returns to action this week in Japan for the Zozo Championship. The $8.5M purse event has drawn the Tour’s crop of the top out of their post-season hiatus. Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, and Sahith Theegala are a few big names traveling to the Accordia Golf Narashino Club this week. 

Schauffele will tee off at 10:24 AM local time (ET). He has been paired up with fellow American, Rickie Fowler, and Australian, Min Woo Lee. Morikawa, meanwhile, has been paired with Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris. The latter group will tee off at 10:35 AM from the first tee just behind Schauffele’s group. Here are the pairings and tee times for the first round. 

1st Tee (Local Time)

10th Tee

The sojourn across the Pacific Ocean is special for two players in the field. One of them, the defending champion, recently wrote a blog on the PGA Tour’s website to explain what last year’s Zozo Championship victory meant for him.

Collin Morikawa was proud of his Japanese heritage before the Zozo Championship.

The world no. 4 returns to action this week, his first stroke play event since the Tour Championship. Morikawa won by six strokes last year. But the American international carrying Japanese heritage is arguably in better shape than he was last year. Morikawa has eight top-ten finishes this season, including two runner-ups. 

Reminiscing about his last year’s victory, the two-time major champion said, “There are only a few places around the world where you hope to win before the end of your career, and for me, Japan is one of those places.” Morikawa’s father, Blaine, is a Japanese American, born in Hawaii. While his mother carries a Chinese American heritage being born in California.

The six-time PGA Tour winner took a trip to Japan in 2020 marking his first time there. Explaining his emotion, Morikawa said, “When you go over there—and that was the first time I was there—there was an instant connection, and that was something I had never felt.”

There is one other player in the field who might feel the same. It’s not Hideki Matsuyama. Xander Schauffele has a special place for Japan in his heart as well. His mom was born in Chinese Taipei but grew up in Japan. 

The reigning Open champion wrote in an article for the Strait Times, “Every time I come over here, I really appreciate the culture and how kind and respectful everyone is, and I think I speak for everyone competing in this week’s Zozo Championship.” The Zozo Championship will start this Thursday. Golf Channel will broadcast the tournament in the USA from 11 PM-3 AM on Wednesday to Saturday.