BlogBaycurrent Classic Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

This is a premier event that doesn’t work in the format.  The fall events are about grinding it out, securing a player’s PGA Tour card for 2026, and then trying to get better status by climbing the points list.  But this event goes against that premise. Sure, it will have a good field of any of the fall events, but the field is only 78 players, and 15 are Japanese players off the Japan Golf Tour points list.  So that leaves just 63 spots for those desperately trying to make the top 100 or get into the top 60 and earn a place in the Sentry and Pebble Beach events.  Then you have the fact that players have to travel from Mississippi to Japan, in which you lose a day, which means you have very little time to learn the new course this year and get over jet lag.  The good news is that the PGA Tour has a charter to take players from Jackson, Mississippi, to Japan. The plane left Jackson at 9:30 Sunday morning, made one refueling stop in Anchorage, and arrived in Tokyo at 4:40 Tuesday morning. So, with a new course to learn and a day to get over jet lag, you can see why this event doesn’t fit for those fighting to retain their Tour card for 2026.

So it’s hard to predict a winner for this year.

One last thing…

There is no PGA Tour event next week, so the big question is why they didn’t schedule this event in Japan after a week off. Oh well.

Course information:

• Yokohama Country Club
• 36 – 35 = 71
• 3,533 – 3,782 = 7,315

There are just 3 par 3s, 13 par 4s and 2 par 5s.

Of the 13 par 4s, 10 of them are in the final 11 holes

This event started six years ago when it was played in Japan in October 2019.  It became an instant success when Tiger Woods won, the last event Woods won.  Because of COVID-19, the event the following year was played outside of Los Angeles at Sherwood C.C. With the pandemic easing, it returned to Japan in October of 2022, and the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, the same club that Tiger Woods won, was again pressed into service.  That year, it was won by Hideki Matsuyama; in 2022, it was won by Keegan Bradley; in 2023, it was won by Colin Morikawa; and last year, it was won by Nico Echavarria.

Yokohama Country Club was founded in 1960, and over the following six years, architect Takeo Aiyama designed and built both the East and West 18-hole layouts. The West course hosted the 1978 Japan Open, one of the first professional events won by Seve Ballesteros, and the 2018 edition of the same event was held on a composite course at the club.

Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw redesigned the west course in 2015. The upgrade involved reconstructing and raising the height of every tee and fairway, with additional soil brought in by civil contractors from other construction projects in the local area. The old double greens on every hole were also replaced with single greens, and sub-air systems were installed to cool the bent grass putting surfaces during the summer.

The Baycurrent will be played on a composite of the east and west courses, which both go through natural valleys and ridges. The course is 20 miles south of Tokyo and is known for its undulating fairways and dense pine trees. The field will take on a composite of the east and west courses, including 16 holes from the West Course.

As a par 71 and stretching to 7,315 yards, the course is distinctive in its configuration: it features only two par-5s, three par-3s, and a remarkable 13 par-4s—the most par-4s of any course currently used on the PGA Tour. In preparation for this event, 15 of the 18 holes had some type of modification, including the removal of numerous trees.

The fairways will be very generous, so look for this to be termed a “bombers’ course. ” Extremely errant drives will find trouble amidst the trees. The Zoysia rough is very short and won’t give players any trouble, so players who miss the fairways will have easier approaches with wedges and shorter irons. The course also offers flexibility: a few shorter par-4s can be played as “driveable” if tee boxes are moved forward, offering birdie opportunities for aggressive players.

The main course defense is the bentgrass greens, which have many undulations. Most of the greens have false fronts, which will give players problems. With so many wedges being hit, spin control will be crucial. The greens are average in size, measuring 6,500 square feet, and should run at a slower 11.5 on the Stimpmeter. The area around most greens is mainly composed of short grass, which means chipping from those areas will have added importance this week.

The weather will be cool for the week with a lot of rain and wind of 40 mph on Thursday. After that, it will be partly cloudy for the final three days with winds of 10 mph.

Players we shouldn’t forget about

This week’s event is being played in Japan, which has a competent tour, and 15 members of that tour are playing this week.  We all know about Hideki Matsuyama, who won this event four years ago.  But a few others are playing that we don’t know much about, but could also be in contention.  One is Tatsunori Shogenji, who leads their money list and has won twice this year.  2nd on the Japan money list is Kazuki Higa, who also won. Also in the field this week is Taiga Semikawa, who is third on the Japan money list; Ren Yonezawa, who is 4th, Kota Kaneko, who is 5th, Takanori Konishi, who is 6th, Satoshi Kodaira, who is 7th, Riki Kawamoto, who is 8th, and Mikumu Horikawa, who is 9th.

Another Japanese player to watch is Ryo Hisatsune, who plays full-time on the DP World Tour.  Ryo has played in the last four Baycurrents and was T-6th in 2023 and T-12th in 2022.  Hisatsune has played in 25 PGA Tour events this year and was T-4th at the Valspar Championship, so watch him.