The Zozo Championship is close to Rickie Fowler’s heart for two reasons. One is due to his strong ties to Japan through his grandfather. He shared a deep emotional bond with his grandad of Japanese origin and even tattooed his surname ‘Tanaka’ in his memory.

The second reason is due to his success in last year’s Zozo Championship, which gave him much-needed momentum to come back into the season. He was in the middle of a drought at that time, and a shared second position in the tournament gave him a much-needed hike. Now, coming back to Zozo this year, Rickie Fowler has extended his admiration for a fellow competitor.

Rickie Fowler expresses his excitement at playing with this golfer

Japanese pro Hideki Matsuyama rose up from the ranks of the Japan Tour to make his mark on the mainstream PGA Tour. He holds 17 professional wins, including 8 PGA Tour wins. His most notable moment was winning the famed Masters Tournament in 2021. He went neck-to-neck with Will Zalatoris for the title and bagged it over a one-stroke lead.

Speaking of the star Japanese golfer’s popularity in the Eastern country, Rickie Fowler said, “Hideki’s a Rockstar over here.” He openly expressed his admiration for him and shared his excitement about playing with him at the Zozo Championship this year. 

“He’s someone I admire as a person, as a player. It will be exciting to see the show of Hideki in Japan.” Fowler exclaimed. This might come as a confidence boost for Matsuyama since he doesn’t really enter the tournament with a lot of momentum.

Matsuyama finished with a shared 40th position in the previous year’s Zozo Championship. However, Matsuyama has a legacy with the competition. He finished as a runner-up to Tiger Woods in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2019. Later, in 2021, he bagged the title. 

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Matsuyama’s current form is also a matter of concern, primarily because of his health. But the same can be said about Fowler as well.

Fowler and Matsuyama – a comparison

Rickie Fowler is fresh out of the Ryder Cup, but he apparently suffered health issues right from the first day and couldn’t contribute as much as he wanted to. On the other hand, Matsuyama had withdrawn from the BMW Championship after an injury. He has not played in any tournament in the past two months. 

Coincidently, Fowler and Matsuyama have played 25 events this season. Matsuyama withdrew from the two of them, while Fowler finished 8 events in the Top 10, and 18 in the Top 25, with one win. Matsuyama had 2 Top 10 finishes, and 11 Top 25 finishes. He hasn’t tasted success this season and hasn’t been a runner-up either. 

With the defending champion Keegan Bradley also in the field, let’s see which way the tournament goes this time around.

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