Baycurrent Classic
Course: Yokohama Country Club (7,315 yards, par 71)
Purse: $8,000,000
Winner: $1,440,000 and 500 FedExCup Fall Points
Tournament Preview
The Baycurrent Classic is the one FedExCup Fall event that is not like the others. Only 78 players are in this field and all of them are guaranteed four rounds. This event was previously titled the Zozo Championship and was held at Narashino Country Club for five of the first six editions. It was also the site of Tiger Woods' last PGA Tour win in 2019 where he tied Sam Snead for most in Tour history with his 82nd victory.
The 2025 edition will see a change in the title sponsor to Baycurrent, but also a change in host venue. It will still take place in Japan, but now it will be held at the Yokohama Country Club and use 16 holes from the West Course and 2 from the East Course. Both courses were renovated 10 years ago by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. It's a little bit of an unconventional par 71 made up of just two par-5s and three par-3s. 10 of the last 11 holes on the card are par-4s.
The field this year is again pretty solid. Top-10 players Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa will tee it up in their first start since the Ryder Cup. Morikawa won this event back in 2023 and that was also his last victory on the PGA Tour. Hideki Matsuyama will once again be the crowd favorite. The most accomplished Japanese golfer previously won this event back in 2021. Billy Horschel, Wyndham Clark, Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Sahith Theegala, Tom Kim and Max Homa make up some of the other notables in this 78-man field.
We'll continue to watch the battle for the Top 100 in the FedExCup. Matt Wallace holds the final spot as of now, but Austin Eckroat, Isaiah Salinda, Joel Dahmen and Victor Perez are not far behind. The Top 100 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Fall will keep full playing status in 2026, while players from 101-125 will only have conditional status.
Weather will be a story right out of the gate. Thursday's opening round is slated to see sustained winds from 20-30 mph with gusts at times over 40 mph. After Thursday, the final three days look to be much more friendly from a scoring standpoint. The key will be not shooting yourself out of it on Day 1. As mentioned previously there is no 36-hole cut, so that should take a little of the pressure off. Rain typically has been a big storyline at this event over the years, but it shouldn't pose much of an issue this time around.
Recent Champions
2024 - Nico Echavarria (-20)
2023 - Collin Morikawa (-14)
2022 - Keegan Bradley (-15)
2021 - Hideki Matsuyama (-15)
2020 - Patrick Cantlay (-23)
2019 - Tiger Woods (-19)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Total Driving
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
- Par-4 Scoring
Champion's Profile
A new course where we have no history and data to look back on always makes for a challenge. There are a few things I noticed when looking at the course through an aerial view that I think will be important to keep in mind when picking players. To me Yokohama is all about angles. There's a nice blend of fairways that are very wide with some that are much tighter and treelined. There's also some quirky fairway bunkering and doglegs that will make players uncomfortable on the tee. Depending on the hole, the result of the tee shot will determine how aggressive a player can be on the approach shot. If you miss on the inside of some of the doglegs, players will have to work it hard around some trees, while if you're on the correct side of the fairway the greens really open up to the player.
The green complexes also have the look of a lot of Coore-Crenshaw designs. The bentgrass surfaces are pretty spacious, but runoff into zoysia fairways. There will be a lot more shots from the short grass if you miss on approach, versus long rough. That usually does create more of a gap between the best and worst short-game players. The greens feature a lot of undulation and as a result are being prepped to run at only about 11.5 on the Stimpmeter. Unfamiliar greens typically give the edge to ball-strikers and I think that's how we should focus.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Hideki Matsuyama ($11,800)
Matsuyama is still seeking his first top-10 finish anywhere since his win at The Sentry in early January, but he did finish top-30 in his last eight starts. I wish the driving was a little better, but his approach and short-game combination is going to be a weapon at Yokohama. Matsuyama ranks 20th in SG: Approach, 10th in proximity, fifth in SG: Around-the-Green and 10th in scrambling this year. He's got a win and a runner-up at this event and will have plenty of support from the fans.
Kurt Kitayama ($11,100)
This will be Kitayama's first start since the BMW Championship, but prior to the break he was playing some exceptional golf with five top-20s in a six-start stretch, including a victory at the 3M Open. Kitayama ranks eighth on the PGA Tour in SG: Tee-to-Green. His iron play in particular has stuck out leading the PGA Tour in approaches from outside 200 yards, but also being quite strong from some of the wedge distances as well. Kitayama has played well in this event in the past going T16-5th the last two years.
Si Woo Kim ($10,800)
Kim is definitely one player who is hoping these unfamiliar and undulating greens will be a challenge for everyone, because he's been terrible with the putter over the last few months. That said, every other part of his game has been quite encouraging. The Korean ranks sixth in SG: Tee-to-Green on the PGA Tour this season. Kim is coming off three straight top-20 finishes, including a T5 at the BMW PGA. He also finished T6 in this event last year.
The Middle Tier
Michael Thorbjornsen ($10,400)
Thorbjornsen is a star in the making and it really doesn't feel like his first win is far away. He's one of the top drivers in the sport ranking ninth in SG: Off-the-Tee and second in total driving. The Stanford product also leads the PGA Tour in GIR percentage. Thorbjornsen has made the cut in 11 cuts in his last 12 starts with five top-15s in that span. He's a great DFS player given the fact that he ranks top-15 in both birdie average and eagle average.
Emiliano Grillo ($9,700)
I think Grillo should be a little higher this week and maybe people will overreact after his missed cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship where he had two horrid rounds on the greens. That's not something he had done at all over the last few months. Grillo ranks 18th in total driving, 18th in proximity and 35th in SG: Putting this season. He's also 30th in par-4 scoring, which will be a key stat given that there are 13 on this course. Grillo has gone 4th-T10 in his last two starts in this event.
Bud Cauley ($9,000)
Cauley had a big bounceback season in 2025 after taking him years to overcome injuries stemming from a serious car accident. While he lost a little steam down the stretch, I think having a long break off will help him reset and get back to the play he did early in 2025 when he racked up four top-6 finishes. Cauley ranks 58th in SG: Off-the-Tee, 29th in SG: Approach, 75th in scrambling and 66th in SG: Putting this year. He's got no weaknesses and his upside is quite high in this field given the price.
The Long Shots
Rico Hoey ($8,600)
If this turns into a ball-striking competition, Hoey certainly has to like his chances. He currently ranks third in SG: Off-the-Tee, first in total driving, 11th in SG: Approach, second in GIR percentage and seventh in proximity this season. Hoey's missed cut last week was his first in his last seven starts. He also has a pair of top-10s in that time span. Hoey finished T22 last year in this event.
Austin Eckroat ($8,600)
Eckroat is a very similar player to Hoey and he's coming off a strong T11 showing last time out in Napa. Eckroat has gained strokes off the tee in eight of his last nine starts and on approach in five of his last six. The putter has also been a lot better over the last few months. As long as the short-game is a net zero, everything is there right now for him to have a great showing in Japan given how much control he has with the ball striking.
Mac Meissner ($8,100)
Meissner has had a pretty dreadful 2025, but things are starting to turn back around to what he showed in 2024. Meissner has finished top-15 in three of his last four starts, including a runner-up at the Wyndham Championship. During that stretch he's gained strokes in every category, other than with the putter at the Procore. This is a player who had 12 top-30 finishes in 2024 and makes for a great value play this week with only 78 players in the field.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
I'm placing a premium on being an accurate ball-striker this week, but there really aren't as many as you would think in that $9K and up range. A lot of these players profile as bombers who rely on the putter. Given the quirkiness of the tee shots and unfamiliar slopping greens, that doesn't really seem like the right style of player to lean on. Chris Gotterup, the Hojgaards, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee and Max Greyserman come to mind as higher priced players who give me pause because of their course fit. That said, because of the fact that there is no cut this week, it does lend itself to taking aggressive players who are known for making a lot of birdies. It's hard to predict the scoring at a course with no previous data, but I actually think it's going to hold up decently well. 16-under has been the average winning score for the last four editions of this event, and even at a completely different course I think that might be about the right number for Yokohama.
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