The PGA Tour kicked off a stretch of three consecutive international tournaments, beginning in the Land of the Rising Sun. (Mexico and Bermuda are next.)
But the first stop is Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, home of the Zozo Championship in Arazai, 25 minutes northeast of Tokyo in the Chiba Prefecture. It’s the sixth edition of a tournament first won by Tiger Woods in 2019 and features Collin Morikawa as the defending champion.
Forty-seven players in the 78-man, no-cut event broke par in the opening round on Thursday. Former Arkansas Razorback Taylor Moore set the pace, shooting 7-under 63 to take a one-stroke leader over four other players. Some of the big names, however, struggled out of the gate. Here are five things to know from the first round of the Zozo Championship.
Moore wants more
Taylor Moore had failed to break par in the opening round of the Zozo in his previous two appearances. That wasn’t a problem this time. Moore shot his lowest round of the year and tied his career low, posting 7-under 63 to claim the first-round lead.
It didn’t hurt that he ranked first in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, second in SG: Tee to Green and sixth in SG: Putting.
Moore topped the field in SG: Around the Green thanks to holing a bunker shot for birdie at 11 and chipping in for eagle at 18.
Moore, who started his round on the back nine, said he hit a good 3-wood off the tee and only had 5-iron left for his approach.
“I just missed the green short left in a good spot. I had plenty of green to work with. Hit a nice chip and it went in,” he said.
The 31-year-old is seeking his first win since the 2023 Valspar Championship. He entered the week at No. 64 in the FedEx Cup Fall and is eyeing finishing in the Aon Next 10 – Nos. 51-60 – at the end of the fall portion of the schedule and qualify for two Signature events in February. If he keeps his good play up, he’ll play himself into a lot more than just that.
Cole and Pan’s hot finish
Eric Cole and C.T. Pan walked off 18 with a smile on their faces.
Cole did so after draining a 27-foot eagle putt to shoot 6-under 64.
“It was a 5-wood, I kind of had to cut it a little around the trees,” he explained. “I hit it a little high on the face so I thought it was going to be close to carrying the front of the green, so I was happy to see it land on the front, kind of release a little bit.”
His putter took care of the rest and wrapped up a strong start for Cole, who finished T-2 at the Zozo last year.
“I think you have to hit it relatively straight and you’ve got to be very precise with your irons and not really short side yourself. There’s just something about the way it looks that I think I like,” he said.
Pan finished with a flurry of four straight birdies to his round of 65.
“It was an amazing finish, one of my best in my career I believe,” he said.
Pan ranked first in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and SG: Approach the Green and proximity to the hole. But he had missed two cuts and twice pulled out of tournaments in his last four starts before a final-round 64 in Las Vegas on Sunday.
“Actually kind of struggled last couple months because just kind of finding a hard time to score out there until last Sunday in Las Vegas, made nine birdies to climb up the leaderboard, so that was a big day for me, turning point for me,” he said.
Thomas returns to Old Faithful
It’s hard to be too upset with shooting an opening-round 4-under 66 but Justin Thomas was pretty non-plussed by it. “You know, wasn’t great, wasn’t bad, but it’s nice to get it around with a good score,” he said.
But he was pleased with his putting, especially after switching back to ‘Old Faithful,’ a Scotty Cameron TP5 mallet, which he’s wielded to great effect during his career. Thomas’s putting is the main culprit for why he failed to win this season. He’s tried some different models and had been using a Scotty Cameron blade but decided to make a chance this week. He ranked 36th in SG: Putting (+0.238). taking 29 putts and holing 96 feet of putts.
“I made some nice putts,” he said. “Even some putts that I missed I felt like they were good putts. I burned a couple edges. When greens have this much break, you really have to be precise with your speed and matching everything up. I feel like I did a really good job of that.“
Xander’s big number
Xander Schauffele made no bogeys on Thursday. The only problem with that? He made one other and signed for 3-over 73.
If he was playing with his buddies at home, he might prefer to just mark an X on his card at the eighth hole. That’s because he took an ugly quadruple-bogey 9 at the par-5 hole.
Schauffele hooked his tee shot into the trees and his ball wedged near a tree. He considered taking an unplayable but decided to take his chances at getting the ball back to the fairway. He took two whacks and the ball hardly moved. Then he took the unplayable. He wedged on and then gunned his putt past the hole. Schaufffele managed to force a smile when it was all said and done.
But the winner of two majors was off his game. He hit just 5 of 13 fairways. He ranked 72nd in SG: Off the Tee and 75th in SG: Approach the Green out of a 78-man field.
Notables struggle
Thanks in part to a limited field, no cut and guaranteed points, the Zozo attracts the strongest field of the Fall events. But not all the big names fared well. In addition to Schauffele, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, a past champion of the event, shot 1-over 71. So, too, did Will Zalatoris. Sahith Theegala shot 2-over 72. Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa, the defending champ, were both off to slow starts but rallied on the second nine. Fowler signed for 68 and Morikawa carded a 69.
Greyserman stays hot
Max Greyserman birdied the first two holes and two of his last three to post 6-under 64. Not too shabby after a two-month layoff.
“The first time in my life I’ve actually had like time off from golf for an extended period of time I feel like without injury, so it was kind of nice just to spend more time with my family and my wife, stuff like that,” he said. “At the same time you kind of get the itch to get back out and play and compete.”
Greyserman, who finished second at the 3M Championship and Wyndham Championship, is seeking his first win and to become the first player to win his maiden title at the Zozo.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Justin Thomas returns to ‘old faithful,’ Xander struggles, Collin & Rickie rally late among takeaways after the 1st round at 2024 Zozo Championship
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