RICKIE VS. RORY

     The Summit Club in Las Vegas, Nevada played host to The CJ Cup this past weekend, fans were graced with bits and pieces of nostalgia over the course of the tournament. Rickie Fowler held the 54-hole lead heading into Sunday, however was unable to defeat a surging Rory McIlroy on Sunday. These two are no strangers to competing against each other, as their competitive background goes all the way back to the 2007 Walker Cup. As fans of golf it was great seeing Rickie return to the spotlight given the past two seasons he has endured. We are slowly starting to see the Rickie of old make his way back. For Rory, this victory must have felt like a giant weight lifted off of his shoulders. The last time we saw Rory he was emotional about his efforts in the Ryder Cup. This reassuring victory solidifies that his performance at Whistling Straits a month ago was truly just a bad week.

     September through January can feel a bit stale in golf after the FedEx Cup playoffs finish and prior to the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, Arizona. However, this year it is impossible to take your eyes off tournament golf with the storylines we keep seeing each and every week. From Team USA’s historical win at Whistling Straits to the battle between Rory and Rickie this past weekend, PGA Tour golf has held up quite nicely as of late. Diving into this week’s ZOZO Championship, the tournament makes it return after last year’s COVID-19 hiatus. All eyes will be on native and reigning Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama who will be playing on his home turf for the first time since his historical win at Augusta. One figure, as we all know, will be missing this from this year’s ZOZO Championship-Tiger Woods. His latest victory on tour came in 2019 at this very venue, Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. His presence will certainly be missed but his absence should not diminish the turnout this week at the ZOZO Championship. Collin Morikawa is coming off yet another top-5 finish and will be a player to look out for during the ZOZO Championship. His iron play, much like Tiger Woods, leads us to believe Accordia Golf could be the perfect place for him to secure yet another PGA Tour victory.

     The ZOZO Championship is a great opportunity for Japan Golf Tour players to test their game against the best of the PGA Tour, and to the credit of the American PGA Tour players, many of them made the trip to the greater Tokyo area. We are so happy to see the ZOZO Championship back in Japan and look forward to watching how all the storylines headed into this week play out!

Play More, Complain Less.