Workday to sponsor official TOUR event at Muirfield Village

THE OVERVIEW It was a perplexing season for the man from Japan, but a strong finish gives his passionate fans back home high hopes for 2019. Hideki Matsuyama followed the best year of his career with a winless campaign in 2018. He had four top-10s last season, but none between January and September. He almost missed the TOUR Championship for the first time in his career until posting five straight top-15 finishes to end the season. He placed fourth at the TOUR Championship and turned a disappointing season into the second-best FedExCup finish (13th) of his career. Matsuyama, 26, is still among the game’s young stars. He has qualified for East Lake in all five of his full seasons as a pro and, even after going winless in 2018, owns five PGA TOUR victories, including two World Golf Championships. He’s already made three Presidents Cup appearances, as well. If he can continue the form he displayed at the end of 2018, this upcoming year could be another good one for Japan’s biggest star. — By Sean Martin Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 96th Playoff appearances: 5 TOUR Championship appearances: 5 Best FedExCup result: 8th in 2017. SHOTLINK FUN FACT After two top-5 finishes in his first three starts on TOUR last season, Hideki Matsuyama then finished the season with two top-5 finishes in his last three starts to become the biggest mover in the FedExCup Playoffs. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Hideki Matsuyama in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: Matsuyama has become a stalwart of the International Team and he has the chance to follow in the footsteps of a mentor next year. Royal Melbourne, the site of the 2019 Presidents Cup, also was the site of the Internationals’ victory in 1998. That team was led by Matusyama’s countryman, Shigeki Maruyama, who went 5-0. Maruyama served as a Captain’s Assistant at Matsuyama’s first Presidents Cup. — By Sean Martin FANTASY INSIDER: At No. 9 in my full-membership fantasy ranking before the season started, he’s the first inside that top 10 appearing in our Top 30 series this month. His 2017-18 season was a learning experience for us as he logged middling results amid ongoing discomfort in his left wrist. He then grinded out the Playoffs to advance to the TOUR Championship as the lowest opening seed (76th). For all of the frustration that he’s presented in real time with injuries, he’s entirely worth the plunge in every situation. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Week-to-week, Matsuyama’s 14 club competition setup is probably the most difficult to predict on TOUR. From Monday-Wednesday of event weeks, it’s not unlikely to see Matsuyama with 25-plus clubs in his bag; he’s typically testing different driver setups, sets of Srixon irons, numerous Cleveland or Callaway wedges with different lofts and grinds, and one-off Scotty Cameron putters. At the Tour Department at Cleveland-Srixon’s headquarters, there’s a dedicated locker space strictly for Matsuyama’s backup equipment. Most recently, he’s switched into a Callaway XR Speed driver and a TaylorMade GAPR driving iron, both equipped with Graphite Design Tour AD-DI shafts. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: Hideki is one of the more interesting dressers on TOUR. He always walks a sartorial tightrope with graphical prints, tonal patterns, pinstripes or bright colors. Sometimes he pulls it off; other times his kits look busy and have too much contrast. In 2019, I’d like to see Matsuyama take a “less is moreâ€� approach by using bright colors as accents rather than as the centerpieces of his outfits. — By Greg Monteforte

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The Valspar Championship returns to the PGA TOUR schedule this season after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two-time defending champion Paul Casey returns to try to win for a record third time in Tampa. FIELD NOTES: Reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson returns to action after a T13 at the RBC Heritage… Past FedExCup winner Justin Thomas is back on the PGA TOUR for the first time since playing the Masters. Thomas sits second in the 2021 FedExCup standings… Phil Mickelson will tee it up at the Valspar Championship for the first time since 2004… Casey is joined by Adam Hadwin (2017) and Charl Schwartzel (2016) as past winners in Tampa from the last five years… Sponsor Exemptions include college standout John Augenstein, European stars Rasmus Hojgaard and Sam Horsfield, plus Chase Koepka (brother to Brooks)… Ten of the top-30 golfers in the world are teeing it up at Innisbrook. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. STORYLINES: The Valspar Championship marks the final event of the PGA TOUR schedule to take place in Florida after its series of tournaments in March… Dustin Johnson’s Valspar Championship start in 2019 was his debut at the event and he had a chance to win until a 3-over 74 in the final round. He’s back and looking for another good result as the race to the FedExCup heats up… Attendance at the event will be approximately 20 percent of normal capacity… Only 10 golfers since World War II have three-peated at an event on the PGA TOUR (Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Gene Littler, Stuart Appleby, Steve Stricker, and of course, Tiger Woods have all done it). Paul Casey looks to join that list this year at Innisbrook. COURSE: Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead), par 71, 7,340 yards. Long known as a TOUR-player favorite, the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook puts a premium on positioning off the tee and is as complete an examination as TOUR players will face all year. Larry Packard’s layout near Tampa is tree-lined and all culminates at the ‘Snake Pit’ with two difficult par-4s sandwiched between the 215-yard par-3 17th. The course opened in the early 1970s. 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, Vijay Singh (2004). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Padraig Harrington (1st round, 2012). LAST TIME: Paul Casey became the first golfer in the 41-year history of the Valspar Championship to defend his title. He won by one shot in 2018 over Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed, and won by the same margin – this time over Jason Kokrak and Louis Oosthuizen – in 2019. Casey, who hadn’t won the PGA TOUR in nine seasons before his 2018 win in Tampa, was steadier than anyone through a tough week in 2019 at the Copperhead Course. His 1-over 72 on Sunday was good enough, as he survived a hard exam at Innisbrook better than anyone, punctuated with a par from the fairway bunker on the 72nd hole. Bubba Watson and Sungjae Im, both at 6-under, rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete.

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