Phil Mickelson builds 4-shot lead at PGA Tour Champions debut

Typically, a career year for any professional athlete isn’t identifiable until there’s agreement that the glory days have passed. For the best talent at any time, evidence suggesting future greater achievement is filed regularly, so it’s a fool’s errand to argue that a career year already has been cemented. Yet, there are exceptions. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look In professional golf, winning a major constitutes candidacy for a career year, but Hideki Matsuyama is only 30 years old, so classifying his career year as 2021 when he became Japan’s first male major champion at the Masters, could be rushing to judgment despite the historic accomplishment. However, the year also included his participation in the Olympics in his native Japan where he was edged for a medal, and it ended with victory at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, also in his homeland. It was a lot, and it was great. The moral of the matter is that it would be unfair to expect any golfer to convert on a combination of those successes when the stars align like that. So, while it may prove not to be Matsuyama’s career year in the context of an overall body of work, it likely will be the most special year of his career personally, so it demands this moment to appreciate it because he defends the last of those highlights at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba this week. POWER RANKINGS: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP Corey Conners, Cam Davis and Shriners co-runner-up Matthew NeSmith will be among the notables reviewed in Draws and Fades. The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP opens a fortnight reserved for 78-man invitationals. THE CJ CUP in South Carolina is on deck. Both are rewards to the top 60 in the previous season’s FedExCup standings and neither has a cut. (Each field reserves space for the top 60 eligible among those who qualified for the Playoffs.) The event’s location in Japan is a giveaway that the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP is conducted in conjunction with the Japan Golf Tour, although it’s not an official event for the latter. Fifteen JGTO members are in the field, the majority of whom can be found at the top of their money list. Another is Keita Nakajima, who is making just his third start as a professional after an extended stretch atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Narashino is a par 70 with five par 3s and three par 5s. The nines are respective pars of 34 and 36. After debuting in 2019 with a scoring average of about one-half stroke under par, it returned in 2021 standing taller at 70.484. (Because of the pandemic, the 2020 edition was held at Sherwood Country Club in California.) After Matsuyama grabbed outright possession of the 36-hole lead, he sprinted through the finish line and posted 15-under 265 to win by five. The composite routing of the King and Queen Courses is 38 yards longer this year at 7,079 yards. The extensions occurred at the par-3 fifth that now can play as long as 205 yards after an increase of 14 yards, and at the par-4 10th that’s an even 400 yards with 24 yards of added length. Thursday’s opening round almost certainly will be a wet one, but dry conditions are expected for most of the remainder. Wind won’t trouble much and daytime temperatures will climb into the mid-70s, eventually, so scoring projects not to be harder than it was a year ago, but asking for another field average that’s a red number might be aggressive. Weather permitting, bentgrass greens are poised to crank at 12½ feet on the Stimpmeter. The first two editions were prepped for 11½ and 12 feet, respectively. Members of the JGTO typically aren’t tested as often on this kind of pace. Also, because the tournament is scheduled a couple of weeks earlier than its first two spins in Japan, the thickest of the 3½-inch rough figures to be lusher than how returning entrants remember it. Course management is the priority, but now that there’s experience on the greens, ball-strikers aren’t benefited as much as they are on a new track. They’re going to need to roll in some putts, too. Matsuyama wasn’t going to be denied, so citing the fact that he led the field in greens in regulation and ranked second in scrambling presents and unrealistic benchmark for all. (ShotLink isn’t utilized at Narashino.) Speaking of hitting greens, the layout at Narashino serves as living history of golf in Japan. Each of the 18 holes has two greens. It was designed that way to extend playability across seasons of the year. The local rule is that when a golfer lands on the wrong green, he is allowed a free drop off the shortest of grass and no nearer the hole. For deeper detail on the possibilities this week, read this. Last year’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP began at 8:30 a.m. local time on Thursday. Chiba is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time in the United States, so it teed off at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Consider this adjustment for how you monitor the action. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ‘Em Preview FRIDAY: Medical Extensions, Reshuffle SUNDAY: Qualifiers * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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Every player on the PGA TOUR has a special relationship with his clubs. Some rely on simplicity and don't adjust much, like last week's winner Harris English. On the opposite end of the spectrum are players that just love to test and test. Charles Howell III has become the chosen son of GolfWRX.com for one simple reason, the guy loves to geek out on gear—and not just his gear. He loves all gear. There are few players on TOUR who carry the passion and curiosity for golf clubs that Charles has. Especially when it comes to the testing process, Howell has a system he has relied on for years to help him not only get dialed but to understand the nuances of his equipment. This week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Howell will try to finally break through for his first win on the islands where he has been a top-10 machine with multiple top 10s and two near misses in 2012 and 2013. For this tournament, the tinkering is minimal but significant. Howell with tee it up in Hawaii with a new shaft in play, a Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X. Howell told PGATOUR.COM the Ventus fits his unique needs, "I'm kind of a strange one in that I'm looking for something that's stable but doesn't feel overly hard, and that shaft seems to … match that." Regarding figuring out what goes in the bag more generally, WRX spoke with Howell III over the holiday, and this is what he had to say in regards to his process. “Obviously, playing for a living gives me the advantage of testing a ton of stuff, but it's just as fun doing the research at home (online) and understanding what certain equipment can do and the idea behind it." "I still rely on testing as much as I can to see what works, but it's the pursuit of knowledge that keeps it all fresh week in and week out. Technology is so good these days, but like anything you have to ask questions, look around try some stuff and then make a decision.” Now, it must be understood that Howell III isn't pulling clubs in and out of his bag every tournament. Being a Titleist staff member for the past few seasons, his bag stays pretty cooked with the help of Titleist Tour Rep JJ VanWezenbeeck. However, there are times when changes are needed, and CH3 isn't afraid to jump companies to find the right fairway wood, hybrid or putter. It's a study in a player that is constantly on the pursuit of knowledge and trying to find that one little edge week to week. Is it a healthy or effective method? Maybe. Some players can do it and some avoid it like the plague, but for Howell III, it's one of the things in the game that keeps him engaged and excited. Nothing wrong with that. Here is what Howell has the bag this week's Sony Open in Hawaii. Driver: Titleist TSI3 (10 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: Ping G425 LST (14.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Atmos Black Tour Spec 8 X 7-wood: Ping G410 (20.5 degrees @20) Shaft: Fujikura Atmos Black Tour Spec 9 X Irons: Titleist T100 (4-6) 620 MB (7-9) Shafts: Project X LZ 6.5 (hard stepped) Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M, 60-08M) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

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