ZOZO Championship
International phenom has done it again, Tom Kim is your 2022 Shriners Children’s Open Champion. In the past two months Kim has claimed two tour victories, had a very solid week in his rookie appearance in The President’s Cup and is now the second player to have two wins before 21 years of age. I bet you all can guess on who the other player is, that’s right it’s Tiger Woods. For Kim being in the same conversation as Tiger Woods is absolutely life altering. This past week at The Shriners Kim shot a jaw-dropping bogey free 24 under. Although he did get a little help from Patrick Cantlay after he triple bogeyed the 18th and final hole, Kim played lights out for 72 holes nevertheless. Tom Kim hopes to continue his stellar play this week at the ZOZO Championship in Chiba, Japan, but before we head to Japan, the second stage of Korn Ferry Q-School starts this week.
This week all across the country 385 players are competing in the Second Stage of Korn Ferry Q-School for a chance to play in the final stage in November. Second stage in my opinion has the most on the line. Second stage also holds the most pressure because you are 4 rounds of golf away from getting status on the Korn Ferry Tour. Players refer to the second stage as the ultimate cut line. Moving forward in the coming months the developmental tours will also begin their Q-schools as well, first up is PGA Tour Latin America starting up in November. There is a lot of major events coming up for young professionals. It should be a very exciting few months. This week however the tour jumps over to Japan for the ZOZO Championship.
I am a huge fan of this event because not only is it one of the few full field events in the fall but it showcases incredible golf courses in another county. This year the ZOZO heads to Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan. Fans are especially excited this year in Japan because fan favorite and home country hero Hideki Matsuyama returns to the ZOZO to defend his title. Along with Matsuyama, stars like Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young and Collin Morikowa will be making the journey over to Japan as well. It should be an interesting week for some of the players, some have only played in the Presidents Cup, others have squeezed in one event prior but for a lot of players this is their first event of the year. With that being said this will be Viktor Hovlands year. I have the utmost confidence in him. He knows how to win, and can compete with anybody. Viktor at the very least this week will find himself in the top 10 and this could be his year to capture his first major starting at Augusta in the upcoming spring of 2023. (Mike)
My bold prediction for this week is that someone from outside the world top thirty will win this stacked event. This is the first real solid field as eleven of the world's top thirty tee it up this week in Japan. Even with so many big names playing I think they will all come up short to a lesser known player.
A sleeper for this week is Tom Hoge. He has flown up the world golf rankings in the last year or so. He has started this season quite impressively. I think it is only a matter of time before we see him competing often on Tour. Do not be shocked if he is right there with the best in the world this weekend.
Not PGA Tour related, but as shared on our Instagram page. I was out at The Home of Golf last week. Saw some incredible scenes from over The Old. It is a reminder that golf in such a simple form, can still be so, so great. Highly recommend taking a peak at the pictures if you have not. (Tyler)