The PGA Tour heads to Japan for the ZOZO Championship, a no-cut event with a field of 78 players, including 16 of the world’s top 50.
Among them is defending champion Keegan Bradley. This is the American's first tournament since he finished T11 at August’s Tour Championship at East Lake. Shortly after that, the six-time PGA Tour winner learned he had narrowly missed out on a Team USA Ryder Cup place, which he admitted left him “super bummed out.”
He will be keen to show what he could have brought to the team, which eventually lost to the Europeans at Marco Simone. He’ll be confident, too, particularly after last year's performance, when he secured his first PGA Tour title in 1,498 days after a one-shot win over Rickie Fowler.
Bradley has had more success since then, notably with victory in the Travelers Championship among some excellent form in 2023, and, despite a break of almost two months, he will undoubtedly be one to watch this week.
The highest-ranked player in the field is World No.6 Xander Schauffele, who was part of the US Ryder Cup team, and makes his first appearance since that defeat. Meanwhile, two other members of Zach Johnson’s team are also in the field, Collin Morikawa and last year's runner-up.
Aside from those big names, the player who local hopes will rest with is Hideki Matsuyama. He won the 2021 tournament by a commanding five shots over Cameron Tringale and Brendan Steele. With just one victory since then, in the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii, he will be hoping a return to his homeland marks the week he collects his ninth win on the Tour.
Hideki Matsuyama hopes for another win in his homeland
Another player looking for his first PGA Tour win in some time is Sungae Im. The South Korean last claimed victory at the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open. Despite that barren run since, the World No.26 has maintained some good form, including a T2 in his most recent outing, the Genesis Scottish Open, which came three months ago.
Elsewhere, Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Kurt Kitayama, Sahith Theegala, who claimed his maiden PGA Tour win in the Fortinet Championship, and Charles Schwab Challenge champion Emiliano Grillo also take part in the tournament at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
Completing the list of players in the world’s top 50 are a trio of Australians in former World No.1 Adam Scott, Cam Davis and Min Woo Lee, as well as Adam Schenk, Taylor Moore, Tom Hoge and RBC Canadian Open winner Nick Taylor.
Players are competing for a purse of $8.5m, with $1.53m available to the winner.
Below if the full prize money breakdown and field for the ZOZO Championship in Japan.
ZOZO Championship Prize Money
| Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| 1st | $1,530,000 |
| 2nd | $918,000 |
| 3rd | $578,000 |
| 4th | $408,000 |
| 5th | $340,000 |
| 6th | $306,000 |
| 7th | $284,750 |
| 8th | $263,500 |
| 9th | $246,500 |
| 10th | $229,500 |
| 11th | $212,500 |
| 12th | $195,500 |
| 13th | $178,500 |
| 14th | $161,500 |
| 15th | $151,640 |
| 16th | $142,460 |
| 17th | $133,960 |
| 18th | $125,460 |
| 19th | $116,960 |
| 20th | $108,460 |
| 21st | $99,960 |
| 22nd | $93,160 |
| 23rd | $86,360 |
| 24th | $79,560 |
| 25th | $72,760 |
| 26th | $65,960 |
| 27th | $63,410 |
| 28th | $60,860 |
| 29th | $58,310 |
| 30th | $55,760 |
| 31st | $53,210 |
| 32nd | $50,660 |
| 33rd | $48,110 |
| 34th | $45,985 |
| 35th | $43,860 |
| 36th | $41,735 |
| 37th | $39,610 |
| 38th | $37,910 |
| 39th | $36,210 |
| 40th | $34,510 |
| 41st | $32,810 |
| 42nd | $31,110 |
| 43rd | $29,410 |
| 44th | $27,710 |
| 45th | $26,010 |
| 46th | $24,310 |
| 47th | $22,610 |
| 48th | $21,250 |
| 49th | $20,060 |
| 50th | $19,380 |
| 51st | $18,870 |
| 52nd | $18,360 |
| 53rd | $18,020 |
| 54th | $17,680 |
| 55th | $17,510 |
| 56th | $17,340 |
| 57th | $17,170 |
| 58th | $17,000 |
| 59th | $16,830 |
| 60th | $16,660 |
| 61st | $16,490 |
| 62nd | $16,320 |
| 63rd | $16,150 |
| 64th | $15,980 |
| 65th | $15,810 |
| 66th | $15,640 |
| 67th | $15,470 |
| 68th | $15,300 |
| 69th | $15,130 |
| 70th | $14,960 |
| 71st | $14,790 |
| 72nd | $14,620 |
| 73rd | $14,450 |
| 74th | $14,280 |
| 75th | $14,110 |
| 76th | $13,940 |
| 77th | $13,770 |
| 78th | $13,600 |
ZOZO Championship Field
- Alexander, Tyson
- Baddeley, Aaron
- Bhatia, Akshay
- Blair, Zac
- Bradley, Keegan
- Buckley, Hayden
- Champ, Cameron
- Cole, Eric
- Dahmen, Joel
- Davis, Cam
- Detry, Thomas
- Eckroat, Austin
- Fowler, Rickie
- Gordon, Will
- Griffin, Ben
- Grillo, Emiliano
- Hall, Harry
- Hardy, Nick
- Higgo, Garrick
- Hirata, Kensei
- Hisatsune, Ryo
- Hodges, Lee
- Hoge, Tom
- Hojgaard, Nicolai
- Horikawa, Mikumu
- Hossler, Beau
- Hubbard, Mark
- Hughes, Mackenzie
- Im, Sungjae
- Imahira, Shugo
- Inamori, Yuki
- Ishikawa, Ryo
- Iwasaki, Aguri
- Kanaya, Takumi
- Kim, Michael
- Kim, S.H.
- Kitayama, Kurt
- Kodaira, Satoshi
- Lashley, Nate
- Lee, K.H.
- Lee, Min Woo
- Lingmerth, David
- Lipsky, David
- Lower, Justin
- Matsuyama, Hideki
- Mitchell, Keith
- Montgomery, Taylor
- Moore, Taylor
- Morikawa, Collin
- Nagano, Ryutaro
- Nakajima, Keita
- NeSmith, Matt
- Noren, Alex
- Norrman, Vincent
- Novak, Andrew
- Onishi, Kaito
- Rai, Aaron
- Riley, Davis
- Ryder, Sam
- Schauffele, Xander
- Schenk, Adam
- Scott, Adam
- Semikawa, Taiga
- Shelton, Robby
- Song, Young-han
- Spaun, J.J.
- Stevens, Sam
- Suh, Justin
- Svensson, Adam
- Tarren, Callum
- Taylor, Ben
- Taylor, Nick
- Theegala, Sahith
- Wallace, Matt
- Werbylo, Trevor
- Wu, Brandon
- Wu, Dylan
- Yu, Kevin
Where Is The ZOZO Championship 2023?
The 2023 ZOZO Championship takes place at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Japan. This will be the third time the course has hosted the tournament since its inception four years ago.
Who Is Playing In The ZOZO Championship?
A strong field will participate in the event, including defending champion Keegan Bradley, World No.6 Xander Schauffele, two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa and six-time PGA Tour winner Rickie Fowler.
