The Sanderson Farms Championship delivered another incredible Sunday duel, with Garrick Higgo and Steven Fisk trading birdies down the stretch. Bettors who took a flier on Fisk at around +10000 were handsomely rewarded.

The question now: Can the longshot trend continue at this week’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan?

This week’s event takes us to Asia and Yokohama Country Club, which now serves as the new home for this event. The field includes just 78 golfers, with 59 players priced at +5000 or longer, which presents an opportunity for another big price or longshot golfer to come through.

Since this is a new course on the PGA TOUR rotation, no ShotLink data is available for modeling. Handicappers will have to dig in manually, using flyovers, Google Earth imagery and scorecard layouts to gauge key metrics and course tendencies.

Yokohama Country Club stretches 7,315 yards and plays as a par 71, featuring 13 par 4s, three par 3s and just two par 5s.

The Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw redesign offers opportunities for golfers with different styles to experience success here.

From a strategy standpoint, players will likely take one of two approaches based on course imagery:

• Option A: Attack the course with length, taking on the narrow, bottlenecked fairways and accepting the risk of finding the rough if they miss their landing zones.
• Option B: Play conservatively, laying back short of the trouble to take advantage of the wider landing areas and more forgiving angles into the greens.

Thursday also adds a weather wrinkle that must be factored in. Winds will blow 25-30 mph throughout the day, with a typhoon expected to churn less than 200 miles from Tokyo, with maximum wind gusts up to 39 mph. In addition to the wind, there is an 80-percent chance of rain on Thursday.

The weather is relatively calm for the rest of the event until late in the tournament on Sunday. Then the winds pick up. Wind speeds will range from 18 to 22 mph with max wind gusts of 24 mph.

With limited data on this course and a forecast that will likely throw off any sense of normalcy in handicapping this tournament, I have used two different sets of parameters in my modeling.

The first set will be for golfers who are the bombers, and the second set will be for the shorter positional golfers.

Here’s a look at the key metrics I used:

Bomber metrics:

• Driving Distance: 20%
• Driving Accuracy: 10%
• Proximity: 100-125: 10%
• Proximity: 125-150: 10%
• Bogey Avoidance: 12%
• SG: Putting (bentgrass): 13%
• SG: Par 4: 10%
• SG: Approach: 10%
• Scrambling: 5%

Golfers inside the top five: Nicolai Højgaard, Kurt Kitayama, Patrick Fishburn, Emiliano Grillo and Gary Woodland

Positional metrics:

• Driving Accuracy: 25%
• Proximity: 125-150: 10%
• Proximity: 150-175: 10%
• Proximity: 200+: 5%
• Bogey Avoidance: 12%
• SG: Putting (bentgrass): 13%
• SG: Par 4: 10%
• SG: Approach: 10%
• Scrambling: 5%

Golfers inside the top five: Emiliano Grillo, Andrew Putnam, Collin Morikawa and Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Here’s a look at the pre-tournament plays I’ll look to make this week, with odds via FanDuel Sportsbook:

Alex Noren to win (+2200) and Top 10 Finish (+220)

While I will have a few shares on Kitayama to win, he ranks higher in both models than Noren does. However, I am slightly worried that he’s not a good enough putter, especially on bentgrass greens.

Noren, on the other hand, is a great putter and one of the best bentgrass putters in the field.

Few players are in better form than Noren right now. After back-to-back missed cuts earlier this season (Rocket Classic, Genesis Scottish Open), he’s been on a tear — posting three top 10s in his last four starts and wins at the Betfred British Masters and BMW PGA Championship.

During that stretch, Noren has gained four or more strokes putting in every event but the Omega European Masters, where he missed the cut.

His ball striking has also been elite, gaining a staggering +5.39 strokes on approach in his T3 finish at the Wyndham Championship and another +5.38 strokes at the Betfred British Masters.

While Wentworth Club (BMW PGA Championship) and Yokohama Country Club aren’t identical, both demand precision off the tee and thoughtful green management. Noren’s combination of accuracy, shot control, and success on bentgrass makes him a natural fit.

Noren had missed some time early in the 2025 golf season. After his recovery, it took him a bit to return to playing at a high level.

If he continues to play great golf, his price to win is more than equitable, and it’s not a bad shout to back him up with a top-10 placement bet.

Max Homa, Top 20 finish with ties (+115)

Is Max Homa back? All signs point to yes — or at least close.

After a stretch earlier this year where he missed five straight cuts, Homa appears to have rediscovered his mojo. His rough patch coincided with several changes — a new swing coach late in 2024, new equipment in 2025, and multiple caddie switches — all of which disrupted his timing and confidence.

During that slump, he lost strokes on approach in 12 of 14 events between the Farmers Insurance Open and the Travelers Championship. But since then, his ball-striking has turned a corner. From the Rocket Classic onward, Homa has gained strokes on approach in six straight measured events.

He even posted a tournament-low 64 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, showing flashes of the old Homa we’re used to. The only red flag — a slight dip off the tee — shouldn’t overshadow his overall upward trend.

In a 78-player field, Homa offers substantial value at +115 for a top-20 finish.

His tee-to-green game looks stable, his putting is streaky but improving, and he’s trending toward another breakthrough performance.

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-522-4700 today.