Baycurrent Classic
Yokohama Country Club
Yokohama, Japan
The PGA Tour heads to Japan for another edition of the Baycurrent Classic (new sponsor).
If you're one of the brave souls still playing fantasy golf this time of year, then you know, this is where it gets really tough. Not just normal tough, but really tough.
It doesn't get any harder than golf when it comes to fantasy sports. There's no injury report, you're dealing with just one person, not a team, and there is no opposition. All of the things you lean on for team sports, are absent when it comes to golf. Heck, even tennis, which is an individual sport, you have an opponent to help you gauge how a person might do, in golf, it's just the individual vs. the course. Sometimes that person performs as expected, but most often, he does not, it's just the way this sport is.
With that said, it's not all hopeless, we do have some things working in our favor like the form of the golfer and the course history, but that's where the fall gets really tricky as there is often more change in the fall than during the regular season.
Take this week for instance. Some of the golfers in the field this week were in play this past week, but a lot were not, and for those guys, we haven't seen them for weeks, so we have no idea about form, so we can try to guess how they might be playing after a month long layoff, but we can't be sure. As a bonus this week, we get a brand new course! Yep, this one is going to be tough.
It's certainly not ideal, but we can lean somewhat on event history this week as since this is a unique event, we can gauge how the player adapts to playing in a foreign country. That helps a little, but it's nothing like knowing how a certain player performs on a particular course.
That's how it goes this time of year however, it's not easy, but we do the best we can.
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LAST YEAR
Nico Echavarria shot a final round 67 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Max Greyserman.
FAVORITES
All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 6:30 PM ET Tuesday.
Xander Schauffele (10-1)
The first test that any prospective play must pass during the fall season is, do they want to be here? It sounds ridiculous, why would a golfer show up to an event that he doesn't want to play? Well, it's not so much that they don't want to play, it's more, are they really motivated to win? For elite players, the answer isn't always yes, but for Schauffele, at this event, the answer is yes as far as I can see. Schauffele has played this event every year since 2019, and while his results haven't been great, he keeps showing up. Now, as for his chances of winning this week, well, they aren't great as he hasn't shown his top form all season.
Collin Morikawa (14-1)
Speaking of not playing well. I kid, but Morikawa certainly hasn't been himself this season and his performance at the Ryder Cup left a lot to be desired, but that can be said for almost every player from the US Team, but I digress. Morikawa won this event in 2023, but again, that was on a different course and he certainly was in better form then as well. He has played this event every year since 2019, so the desire is there, but I'm not sure the game is right now.
Hideki Matsuyama (18-1)
Obviously no question about desire with Matsuyama this week as he's playing in front of the home fans. His track record at this event isn't great, but that can probably be attributed to the pressure of playing in front of the home fans. He did win this event in 2021, so we know he's capable of dealing with the pressure of carrying the hopes on an entire country, it's just a matter of whether he can pull it off again. Of the three favorites, Matsuyama definitely has the most value.
Visit our golf betting section for the latest PGA odds and finishing props from multiple sportsbooks.
THE NEXT TIER
Alex Noren (22-1)
Noren was a forgotten player as recently as a year ago, but he found his game in a big way over the past eight months and there's no reason to think his form will change heading into the fall season. Noren has yet to win in the States, but he has plenty of wins overseas, so even though this is a PGA Tour event, the fact that it's being held in Japan might help his cause.
Rasmus Hojgaard (22-1)
Hojgaard a lot of momentum heading into this tournament as he was a part of the winning Ryder Cup team two weeks ago and he parlayed that into a T3 this past week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Hojgaard didn't quite make the jump this year that many expected, but often times players with a lot of expectations play better in the fall when they're no longer under the microscope.
Michael Kim (40-1)
Kim was already having a career year when he teed it up in France a month ago, but his win there put a cherry on top of this season. The question now is, will he move forward with this momentum, or will he stall out having accomplished so much this season? My guess is that he keeps it moving forward. Whether that means another win or not is the question, but he's getting some pretty long odds for a guy that just missed the TOUR Championship this year and won less than a month ago.
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LONG SHOTS
Tom Kim (65-1)
Remember this guy? I feel like I ask that question every week, because it seems like he's been around for a decade, but then I check his profile and it mentions that he's only 23 years old! Kim has already had as many ups and downs in his career as a normal 40-year-old tour player, but he's just starting his journey. Someday we'll look back at this period and laugh at the fact that was getting 65-1 odds to win. I'm not saying he's going to win, but he did play well in Jackson and we know he's got it in him to win at the highest level.
Nico Echavarria (80-1)
I'm not going to lie, I was hoping for more from Echavarria this season, but a career high in earnings isn't too bad. After winning in each of his first two seasons on the PGA Tour, Echavarria has yet to pick up a win in 2025, but there's still time. He missed the cut in his most recent start, but guess what he did prior to winning the Zozo Championship this past year? Yep, he missed the cut.
ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES
Highly-Chosen Pick: Hideki Matsuyama – Few players in the field will want this win more than Matsuyama this week and that's always a good place to start. The only two players above him on the odds chart have struggled over the past couple months, so in my mind, Matsuyama is the favorite to win this week.
Moderately-Chosen Pick: Rasmus Hojgaard – Coin flip here between Hojgaard and Noren, but Hojgaard has the higher upside at this point in his career and he could be at the start of something big. Noren does have an advantage of playing this tournament three times already, while Hojgaard will be teeing it up for the first time at this event, but again, different course, so it might not matter.
Lightly-Chosen Pick: Nico Echavarria – Echavarria is the defending champion, but perhaps being at a new venue will actually be a good thing as the expectations will be lowered. Whatever the case, Echavarria tore it up during the fall season this past year and although he missed a cut already this fall, there is still plenty of time to have a great fall season.
Buyer Beware: Collin Morikawa –Morikawa might have received a little too much heat for not playing his best at the Ryder Cup, but even if he played just okay, he's still way off his form that made him a top-10 player in the world. Whatever is wrong with his game isn't going to fix itself in a matter of weeks, it will take the off season to get right for Morikawa.
FANDUEL PICKS
Upper Range: Hideki Matsuyama ($11,800)
Middle Range: Michael Kim ($10,500)
Lower Range: Tom Kim ($8,500)
