The First Look: Baycurrent Classic

There is plenty of notable star power heading to Japan once again for the 2026 edition of the Baycurrent Classic, led by defending champion Xander Schauffele.

This will be the second year the Baycurrent is played at the Coore/Crenshaw-designed Yokohama Country Club, and the event once again boasts a stout field of Tour stars plus plenty who are looking to earn valuable FedExCup points as the FedExCup Fall inches towards its conclusion.

Here’s everything else you need to know as the Tour returns to Japan.

FIELD NOTES: Schauffele, at No. 10 in the world, has seven top-10 finishes so far this season, including a runner-up at the Rocket Classic. No golfer has yet been able to successfully defend his title at the Baycurrent Classic in tournament history. ... The top-ranked golfer in the field teeing it up is Wyndham Clark. Clark, at No. 5 in the OWGR, has three wins already this season, including his second major championship at the U.S. Open. ... Collin Morikawa, who won this event in 2023, and Jacob Bridgeman, who already won this fall at the Biltmore Championship Asheville, are teeing it up for the first time since being part of the winning American side at the Presidents Cup – with Bridgeman securing the cup-clinching point. … There are a hearty handful of Presidents Cup participants returning to action this week, along with Justin Thomas and Captain's Assistant Keegan Bradley on the American side, as well as Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Sungjae Im, past champion Nico Echavarria, Nick Taylor, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Captain's Assistant Taylor Pendrith and a pair of Japan’s own in Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune, who was a rookie on the squad this year. ... It’s a key week for many around the top-100 mark in the FedExCup Fall as we inch closer to 2026’s conclusion. Bezuidenhout sits at No. 99, while all of Lee Hodges (No. 103), Tony Finau (No. 104) and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (No. 106) are among the notable bubble boys. ... That group also includes Max Greyserman at No. 98 who, remarkably, has finished runner-up at the Baycurrent Classic the last two years. ... Jordan Spieth returns to tee it up in Japan for the first time since 2019. Spieth sits No. 55 in the FedExCup Fall standings, and a good week will go a long way as he looks to lock himself into the field of the first two Signature Events for 2027.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: A foursome of Japanese golfers are set to tee it up via sponsor invitations at the Baycurrent Classic led by Takumi Kanaya, who finished T4 last year after a sizzling Sunday 62. Kanaya has two top-25 finishes so far on Tour this season. ... Keita Nakajima is fighting for a top-100 spot in the FedExCup Fall. He sits at No. 125 heading into the week mostly on the back of his T3 at the Genesis Scottish Open, but he also has three other top-20 results in 2026. ... Jinichiro Kozuma and amateur Koshin Nagasaki are the other sponsor exemptions.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The Baycurrent Classic is the third event of the FedExCup Fall. Players are already set to jockey for position in the standings as Nos. 51-60 in the FedExCup Fall standings will make up the Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. ... With his win at Bank of Utah, Austin Smotherman jumped from No. 79 to No. 51 in the standings. ... Another pair of solid results meant two other players moved inside the No. 51-60 number, with Doug Ghim, who finished solo second, making a hearty jump from No. 89 to No. 58 and Ben James – who notched his third top-five finish in a row on the PGA Tour – moving from No. 66 to No. 59.

COURSE: Yokohama Country Club, par 71, 7,322 yards. This is the second playing of the Baycurrent Classic at Yokohama, which was redesigned by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2015. For 2026, the 18th hole has been lengthened from 475 yards to 482 yards.

In order to prepare for the PGA Tour, there were fairway line adjustments plus additional rough and new fairway bunkers on Nos. 2 and 15, new tees on Nos. 5, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 18, plus significant tree removal right of the fairway on the closing hole to expose the penalty area. The greens are bentgrass, the fairways are korai zoysia and the rough is noshiba zoysia.

72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Nico Echavarria (2024)

18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Matt McCarty (Round 4, 2025)

LAST TIME: After a few close calls in Japan, Xander Schauffele finally had his day, winning by one over Max Greyserman. It was Schauffele’s 10th PGA Tour title, but his first since he won The Open Championship in 2024. Schauffele fired a Sunday 64 to hold off the hard-charging Greyserman, who shot a 6-under 65. Schauffele started with three birdies in his first six holes, but Greyserman hung around until late – and just couldn’t convert a pair of key opportunities on the back nine, missing back-to-back birdie chances on Nos. 15 and 16. Greyserman also knocked his approach on the par-4 18th to just an inch away; had he made it, he would have forced a playoff. Schauffele made a 13-footer for birdie on the penultimate hole, which ultimately was the difference.

Michael Thorbjornsen also shot a 7-under 65 in the finale to finish solo third at 16 under. Japan’s own Takumi Kanaya fired a 9-under 62 to finish among those tied for fourth.

Matt McCarty set a new 18-hole course record at Yokohama Country Club, shooting a 60 in the final round. He finished tied for 14th.

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Wednesday-Saturday: 11 p.m.-3 a.m. (Golf Channel)