The Baycurrent Classic, the first of three international events in the FedExCup Fall, welcomes the PGA TOUR to Japan for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. The event will be hosted at the Yokohama Country Club for the first time.

The West Course and East Course at Yokohama Country Club, designed by Takeo Aiyama in 1960, will comprise a composite layout. The 16 holes used from the West Course, renovated by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2016, combined with two holes from the East Course, play to a scorecard length of 7,315 yards and to par 71.

Most recently, the Yokohama Minato Championship, hosted by the Japan Golf Tour, was played on the composite layout in 2023 and 2024. Both winners are in the field this week.

Keita Nakajima (+8000) posted 13-under 271 over 7,231 yards to lift the trophy in 2023. Heavy wind and rain, also forecast for this week, lengthened the track and muted scoring. Only four players posted 10-under or better.

Highlighted by excellent weather, including hot and humid conditions, scoring for the 2024 edition, playing 7,207 yards to par 71, increased significantly. Ren Yonezawa (+30000) signed for all four rounds in the 60s, including 65-64 to close, to post 22-under-par 262 to win by three shots. The top 25 players posted 10-under par or better.

Strokes Gained: Tee to Green

Players listed below are competing this week

Most of the limited field of 78 players will be teeing it up for the first time at Yokohama Country Club. Without any inherent advantage on the 007 Bentgrass greens, only prepped to run slightly over 11 feet on the Stimpmeter, ball-strikers will move to the top of the list, as they always do, at a new venue. The expansive fairways and rolling terrain should give plenty of chances from the fairway to attack flags on the putting surfaces. Zoysia fairways, such as those used at East Lake Golf Club for The TOUR Championship, are framed by three-plus inches of Zoysia rough, like Narashino Country Club, the previous host.

Nico Echavarria (+8000), the champion on debut in 2024 from across the Tokyo Bay in Chiba, is one of three former winners since the TOUR returned to Japan in 2019, when Tiger Woods famously won for the 82nd time on TOUR.

Second choice on the betting boards, Collin Morikawa (+1600) won the 2023 event by six shots. Never missing a start in Japan, he earned another top-10 result, T7 in 2021.

Native son Hideki Matsuyama (+1800), runner-up to Woods in the inaugural event in 2019, won the second event in Chiba in 2021, blasting the field by five shots. After finishing second and first across the first two events, the 11-time winner on the PGA TOUR, most by any Asian player, did not crack the top 40 in his last three starts in Chiba.

Par-4 Scoring

The unconventional par-71 layout provides clues to who will succeed. The composite course plays 36-35 but has 13 par-4 chances, including 10 of the last 11 holes. Only four of the 13 par-4 holes play longer than 470 yards, providing an opportunity for the big hitters to overrun the place. With generous fairways and greens running at holing speeds for putts, knocking it close and converting will be the formula this week. The over/under on the winning score this week in most outlets is around 264, hovering at 20-under.

Oddsmaker’s extras

• Xander Schauffele (+1000): The favorite and gold medal winner from the Tokyo Olympics owns a pair of top-10 paydays from five other visits to Japan.
• Eric Cole (+7500): In two visits to the Tokyo suburbs, he cashed T2 on debut in 2023 and added T6 in 2024. Another new venue should not faze him!
• Emiliano Grillo (+5000): The Argentine returns to Japan for the first time since posting back-to-back top-10 paydays in 2022 (4th) and 2023 (T10).
• Beau Hossler (+7000): Sharing second in 2023 after T16 on debut, the Californian annually commits to making the trip.
• Andrew Putnam (+8000): The 2022 co-runner-up posted 62 at Narashino Country Club and has made the trip in four previous years.

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