The PGA Tour crosses the Pacific Ocean for the second iteration of the Baycurrent Classic.
Replacing the ZOZO Championship, the Baycurrent Classic sees players tee it up at Yokohama Country Club once again.
Played at the venue for the first time last year, there’s not much course history to go off, and some players are playing for the first time in weeks with the FedExFall reaching its third event.
A par-71, playing at a not-overly-long 7,315 yards, Yokohama features just two par-5s and three par-3s. Tree-lined with strategically placed bunkers, players can’t afford to be too wild off the tee, though generous fairways mean long hitters should be at an advantage. Indeed, the first three home last year were Xander Schauffele, Max Greyserman and Michael Thorbjornsen, while Garrick Higgo, Byeong Hun-an and Alex Smalley made up part of a five-way tie for fourth.
The variety of holes means that every club in the bag will be used this week, and players comfortable on bentgrass greens will certainly be at an advantage on the putting surface.
A strong field heads to Japan this week, and while Schauffele returns to defend his Baycurrent Classic title, does he top our Power Rankings? Read on to find out.
5 - Michael Thorbjornsen
After reaching the PGA Tour via the PGA Tour University programme, much was expected of Michael Thorbjornsen. His maiden season saw a T2 at the John Deere Classic but his sophomore season was more underwhelming.
There was a sprinkling of decent performances, but six missed cuts in his first eight appearances left Thorbjornsen behind the eight-ball for the rest of the season, and failing to reach the FedExCup play-offs meant a busy fall for the Stanford man, but positive results there set Thorbjornsen up for an improved 2026.
One of those positive results came at the Baycurrent Classic, where Thorbjornsen was T3, and with last year the first visit to Yokohama, Thorbjornsen has better for there than most of the field.
Thorbjornsen remains a superb driver, above average for distance and accuracy, and prior to last week’s Bank of Utah Championship – which does skew the figures – Thorbjornsen ranked 10th on the PGA Tour for total driving,
With a win under his belt at the Rocket Classic, Thorbjornsen doesn’t need to make the trip to Japan, but clearly fancies his chance of improving on last year’s effort.
4 - Collin Morikawa
Of Asian decent, Collin Morikawa isn’t one to miss a trip across the Pacific. Appearing five times at the ZOZO Championship – and winning in 2023 – Morikawa made it to Yokohama last year where he was a solid T14.
Despite injury troubles this season, Morikawa has started to look like his old self, gaining strokes in every event bar the Cadillac Championship at Doral since the Sony Open to kick off the season.
More recently, Morikawa has a solo-third at the Travelers and a T4 at the BMW Championship, and with plenty of support at Yokohama, looks primed for another good week.
3 - Hideki Matsuyama
It was a case of so near, yet so far for Hideki Matsuyama at the Presidents Cup. After lots of excellent play throughout the week, Matsuyama and the Internationals came up agonisingly short.
Still, Matsuyama can take plenty out of the event as he returns to his home country.
Matsuyama is another former ZOZO winner, doing so two years after being runner-up to Tiger Woods
Matsuyama has never been the most consistent on the greens but the putter hasn’t let him down all that often this season. Nevertheless, it’s his tee-to-green work that’s stood out of late, gaining strokes both off the tee and on approach on six of his last eight outings. Indeed, Matusyama ranks second for SG:T2G across the last eight weeks as per Golf Betting System.
With a PGA Tour win in Japan back in 2023, Matsuyama will hope for another this week.
2 - Wyndham Clark
One of the few shining lights for the USA from an individual perspective at the Presidents Cup, Wyndham Clark continued his solid play in 2026.
Of course, Clark was struggling massively on the greens in the spring, unable to register one top-30 in the seven events between the American Express and the Masters.
Fast forward a few months and Clark has three wins to his name this season including a second US Open.
Clark didn’t have the best time of things at Yokohama last season, but given the overall level of his play since the summer, a vast improvement on 2025 is expected.
1 - Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele returns to Yokohama to defend the title he won 12 months ago. The win came after a season of struggle for Schauffele, who was sidelined with a rib injury for much of the early part of the campaign, with the effects seemingly lingering for a number of months after.
There’s been a quiet improvement for Schauffele in 2026, though he remains winless. His driving has been imperious this season, ranking seventh for total driving on the PGA Tour. Most importantly for this week, Schauffele ranks 13th in driving distance, and he’ll know all too well how Yokohama allows him to showcase his length.
There’s an inconsistency around Schauffele on and around the greens and that will be the deciding factor as to whether the 32-year-old defends his title, but his long game is certainly there.
Another angle that may prove telling is Schauffele’s work on Zoysia grass fairways. Not frequently used on the PGA Tour, players often remark that the surface allows the ball to sit up more than usual on fairways, and while Schauffele doesn’t often lose strokes on approach, he’s gained strokes on approach on the last 14 times he’s played on Zoysia fairways.
