The PGA Tour continues on this week as it travels across the world to Japan as it visits Yokohama Country Club for the 2025 Baycurrent Classic. Founded in 1960 and designed by Takeo Aiyama, Yokohama Country Club will play as a Par 71, 7,314 yard layout as it makes its PGA Tour debut this week. In addition to a new host venue, the event has a new title sponsor, with Baycurrent taking over from ZOZO, which served as title sponsor since the tournament debuted in 2019.
In a way, this event is wide open, as nobody has an advantage from past experience since the course is making its tour debut. That being said, this week favors the great ball strikers of the game. With Yokohama featuring tight, tree-lined fairways, it is very much in the same parkland style of courses like Hilton Head and Colonial. In terms of scoring, the course only features two Par 5’s, which will place an extra emphasis on Par 4 scoring. The long ball hitters can very much turn this into a pitch and putt course, but driving accuracy and good iron control will definitely play dividends as the week goes on. With challenging bentgrass greens awaiting the world’s best, those who have found recent success on the greens should have a slight edge this weekend. The scoring hasn’t been super low in past editions, with three of the last four winners finish at -15 or worse for the week, but if the winds stay down, players will be ripping darts into many of these shorter playing holes. No cut this week, so the entire field is guaranteed four rounds of golf. Which player will rise (I swear, I think I’m hilarious) to the top of the leaderboard in the Land of the Rising Sun?
The Baycurrent Classic was first held in 2019, and has already produced a strong pedigree of players year after year. Among the favorites looking for the win this weekend include Chris Gotterup, Max Homa, Kurt Kitayama, Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele, while underdogs like Aldrich Potgeiter, Andrew Putnam, Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Sam Ryder and Alex Smalley, just to name a few, will look to make waves as well.
The list of winners of this event is short, but elite, with Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa and Nico Echavarria all finding victory in this event once.
Last year’s edition was won by Nico Echavarria, who birdied two of his last three holes to hold off Max Greyserman and Justin Thomas by a single stroke. Rickie Fowler finished in fourth place, three strokes back, while Kurt Kitayama finished in fifth place, five strokes off the pace.
Max Homa has had a lot of up and downs, and while he still is a crowd favorite, I don’t see much happening this week. His game has suffered, causing him to change caddies, make swing changes and figure out how to get back to the player we all know. While the last two events have been successful, I think his up and down streak isn’t over.
Kurt Kitayama is a solid player who had a victory earlier this season at the 3M Open. Because the event is at a new location, it evens the playing field for those competing this week. A fresh look makes it anyone’s chance to take it, and I think his game has what it takes to make this week a success. His off the tee and approach shot stats show he is due for another great tournament.
Xander Schauffele has had a great season, with top tens at two majors and shining as one of the best at the Ryder Cup. His game is so refined when he needs it to be, and his approach to course management will help him tremendously here with all the lush pines. Xander’s game seems like it will be a good fit for this course setup, and off the tee, he will thrive.
Hideki Matsuyama is back home after a few weeks off following the BMW PGA Championship. His game looks good, and he has had a few weeks to regroup and get ready to let his game shine. This event means a lot to him, and he is ready to contend. I’m banking that pride in your home country can push him to have a successful week.
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