Emergency 9: RBC Heritage, Round 2

CHIBA, Japan – Tournament officials announced today that two-time major winner Collin Morikawa and former FedExCup champion Justin Rose have committed to play in the 2022 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, October 13-16, 2022. The duo are the latest big names to sign up for Japan’s lone PGA TOUR tournament following earlier commitments by reigning Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Xander Schauffele, Cameron Champ, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood. Travis Steiner, Executive Director of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, said: “We are delighted that Collin Morikawa and Justin Rose, who are both established stars of the game on the PGA TOUR, will compete in our tournament. Their presence will lend further credence to Japan being a major attraction for our top players and ensure another meaningful week of world-class golf for our Japanese fans to experience at Narashino.” Morikawa, 25, has emerged as one of the most exciting young talents in recent years. Since turning professional in 2019, he has won five times on the PGA TOUR including two major championships, the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship. He also became the first American golfer to win the DP World Tour Race to Dubai title last year. In the recently concluded 2021-22 PGA TOUR Season, the World No. 8 posted eight top-10s, including top-5 finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open, en route to a T21 finish in the FedExCup. Morikawa will be making his fourth straight appearance at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, with a T7 in 2021 being his best finish. Morikawa said: “I’ve played in every ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP since 2019 and it’s a tournament that I mark out on my calendar at the start of every year. Japan is an amazing country and the fans are incredible. The Morikawa family name goes back generations to Kumamoto, Japan, and having the opportunity to compete in a country with deep family roots is something I take great pride in. I look forward to concluding my year with some delicious Japanese food, playing on a great golf course and hopefully securing a win along the way.” Rose, a former World No. 1, is a renowned winner across the globe where he has won official tournaments on all six continents, including The Crowns Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour in 2002. He was also the gold medallist when golf made a welcome return to the Olympic Games programme in Rio in 2016. The 42-year-old Englishman holds 10 titles on the PGA TOUR, including a major triumph at the 2013 U.S. Open. Another career highlight was achieved in 2018 when he claimed the season-long prize, the FedExCup, following two victories and nine other top-10s. Rose’s best finish at the recent 2021-22 Season was a T4 at the RBC Canadian Open where he closed with a 10-under 60. His lone appearance to date at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was at Sherwood Country Club in 2020 where he finished T17 when the tournament was moved to the U.S. due to the challenges of COVID-19. Rose, ranked 58th in the world, said: “Japan will always have a special place in my heart as one of my earliest professional wins was achieved in Nagoya back in 2002. I look forward to returning in October to compete for another title at the PGA TOUR’s lone tournament in Japan. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan and I look forward to experiencing it myself.” The US$11 million ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will showcase a 78-man field which will compete over four rounds with no cut. As Japan’s only official PGA TOUR event, the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was successfully launched at Narashino in 2019 when Tiger Woods claimed the inaugural title with a three-shot victory over Hideki Matsuyama en route to equalling Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA TOUR victories. Patrick Cantlay was victorious in the 2020 edition at Sherwood while Matsuyama produced a popular victory when the tournament returned home to Japan last October. This year’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will include the leading players from the 2021-2022 FedExCup, players designated by the Japan Golf Tour Organization, the winner of the 2022 BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup on the Japan Golf Tour and sponsor exemptions. As in previous years, part of the tournament’s proceeds will be donated to charitable causes. As a full FedExCup tournament, the winner of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will earn 500 FedExCup points. The event will be co-sanctioned once again with the Japan Golf Tour Organization. For more information on the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, please visit ZOZOCHAMPIONSHIP.com.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It would be fitting if a tip from former THE PLAYERS champion Tim Clark produced the newest member of the club to win at TPC Sawgrass. A year ago Clark approached Webb Simpson on the eve of THE PLAYERS Championship and offered his fellow former anchored putting buddy a tip. Simpson was in the putting wilderness after being forced to switch from his near life-long method of belly-putting thanks to the anchor ban. The former U.S. Open champion had ranked inside the top 53 players for Strokes Gained: Putting from his debut year in 2009 through the 2014 season with a high mark of 15th. But after switching he plummeted to 174th in 2015 and 177th in 2016. He was lost. “Tim asked me how I’ve been putting, and I told him, pretty inconsistent. He asked me had I ever tried the claw grip, and I said no. So I tried it. I liked it,â€� Simpson explained of the encounter a year ago. “So thanks to Tim, I started putting better last year.â€� The combination of a mid-length putter that rests against the forearm – ala Matt Kuchar – and the claw grip has been a game changer. He put it in to place and finished T16 last year. Last season Simpson’s strokes gained ranking improved to 88th. This season he entered this week ranked 10th. This week he’s first – gaining an incredible 9.079 shots on the field so far through two rounds. Round one was the 10th best of his career in the stat. Round two the fifth best. “It turned his whole season around and turned his career around, getting it to where we thought it was going to be. The putter isn’t a problem anymore,â€� long-time caddie and friend Paul Tesori says of the change a year ago. “For us, it’s nothing short of miraculous. We got to a two and a half year stretch where we didn’t know if we ever would see it again. “We’ve had some battles. It’s been stressful.â€� On Friday, Simpson officially made 142-feet, eight inches worth of putts. But this didn’t include an 18-footer he made from the fringe on the 12th hole and a 28-footer he drained from behind the 15th green. “Obviously I’ve been with guys who have shot some incredible rounds, but it was just amazing how many putts he made,â€� playing partner Jhonattan Vegas said. “He hit the ball really well, but he was just making it from everywhere. I was rooting for him to break the course record; he definitely had it. “The putt that shocked me was the putt he made on 15, which would have gone way far by but went in. Right there we knew he had something special at that point, so we were just rooting. We were fans at that point.â€� Adam Scott, another of the players forced to change once the anchor ban came in, tipped his hat to Simpson’s transformation. Scott himself has spent the last few seasons changing between a short and long putter, still searching for something he can reliably trust. “There is some psychological stuff involved,â€� Scott said. “In the two or three years between the making of the decision and the rule coming into effect we were being called cheats and all sorts out there. “Then the not knowing what’s going to happen… how you’ll go. Learning a new technique and feels. Lots of things played into it. “The guy spent thousands of hours in his life working on a particular method and he’s sent back to square one. So all credit to him.â€� As much as anything Simpson himself is happy just to have belief in himself again. In the dark times it was hard not to wonder if he’d ever find a way. “Confidence is so big, and it can change the way you think… Even more so maybe with putting,â€� Simpson said. “Putting there’s read, there’s grain, there’s speed… there’s the stroke, the aimer, and then there’s you. “I had tournaments where I putted well, but I never had stretches of three months, six months, eight months where consistently I was a lot better. “Once that kind of four, five, six months of good putting hit, I started to believe again that I’m a good putter. It had been a long time since I had really felt that and believed it.â€� We believe it to now.

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