Xander Schauffele in contention at WM Phoenix Open with fill-in caddie

When Hideki Matsuyama became the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world in 2012, he was the first player from Asia to reach the milestone. A slice of Matsuyama’s influence on the sport since – both in his native Japan and around the globe – is evidenced in that same World Amateur Golf Ranking. This week, Taiga Semikawa is the No. 1 amateur in the men’s game – the third different WAGR No. 1 from Japan in the last three years. As the most prolific PGA TOUR winner all-time from Japan (eight wins) and the country’s first men’s major champion, Matsuyama’s impact on growing the sport’s popularity might be fully seen in the burgeoning wave of talent to follow. Matsuyama will look to successfully defend a PGA TOUR title for the second time in his career this week at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. A better approach The hallmark statistical trait of Matsuyama’s game has always been his stellar approach play. In 2021-22, Matsuyama ranked sixth on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach per round, the eighth time in his career he has finished a season ranked inside the top-10 on TOUR in that statistic. That’s tied for the most seasons ranked in the top-10 in SG: Approach since tracking began in 2004, alongside Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. There are more than 470 players who have accumulated 125 measured rounds or more in the PGA TOUR ShotLink era, which began in 2004. Of that group, only six have averaged more Strokes Gained: Approach per round than Matsuyama (+0.74 per round). Just four players have had 500 or more rounds measured by ShotLink and averaged 0.70 Strokes Gained: Approach per round or more: Matsuyama, Furyk, Paul Casey and Justin Thomas. When Matsuyama is at his best, he’s usually brought that facet of his game up to an even higher level. Advanced data is available in six of Matsuyama’s career wins on the PGA TOUR. In five of those six victories, Matsuyama ranked fourth or better in the field that week in Strokes Gained: Approach. In all, 44.6% of Matsuyama’s Strokes Gained: Total in his wins have come from his approach play. That’s a significantly higher average than his peers – over the last 10 seasons, players who win on the PGA TOUR gain, on average, 35% of their strokes via approach shots. Though Matsuyama has been consistently good throughout his professional career with his approach play, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t found room for improvement. One area of recent improvement is his proximity to the hole from 125 to 150 yards. Matsuyama ranked 71st on TOUR in that particular proximity range just three years ago. He ranked No. 2 on TOUR in that statistic in 2020-21, and he led the TOUR in it last season. In Matsuyama’s 2021 Masters win, he ranked fourth in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach (+1.79 per round) and tied for seventh in greens in regulation. Green jacket in tow, Matsuyama will be a fixture at Augusta National for decades to come. With iron play being incredibly significant there – six of the last eight Masters winners ranked in the top-five that week in Strokes Gained: Approach – Matsuyama should find himself hitting significant shots on Masters Sunday many times in the future. Success tee-to-green While Matsuyama’s transcendent talent comes with his irons, he’s been a good driver of the ball since turning pro, too. Since 2013-14, Matsuyama has averaged 0.33 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee per round on the PGA TOUR, 43rd-best of 331 players with 100 or more ShotLink-measured rounds in that span – that comes out to the top-13 percent. Matsuyama’s overall ball striking numbers since turning pro are, in turn, absolutely stellar. He’s ranked ninth on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking per round since 2013-14 (+1.06), his first full season. He’s fifth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green per round (+1.32) in that same span, just ahead of Justin Thomas. Matsuyama has ranked in the top-20 on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green in each of the previous nine seasons, the longest active streak of any player. This consistently reliable ball striking has made Matsuyama one of the more bankable week-to-week performers on the PGA TOUR over the last decade. Matsuyama has never missed more than five cuts in a single PGA TOUR season. He hasn’t had back-to-back missed cuts in more than six years – the last time that happened was in the summer of 2016, at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and U.S. Open. Since 2014-15, Matsuyama’s 49 top-10 finishes are tied for seventh-most on the PGA TOUR. Winning the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in 2021 Matsuyama’s five-stroke margin of victory at last year’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP marked the third time he has won a PGA TOUR event by five shots or more. Matsuyama started the final round with a one-shot lead, but carded two eagles and three birdies that Sunday to move away from the pack. His ball striking was, again, excellent – he led the field in greens in regulation for the tournament, hitting 81.9%, while the field averaged just over 61%. He also scrambled at a 77% clip, second-best of anyone in the field. In two previous starts at Accordia Golf Narashino CC, Matsuyama has been bested by one player (Tiger Woods in 2019) and has never shot a score higher than 68. Six players have successfully defended a title on the PGA TOUR since the beginning of last season, including Max Homa at the 2022-23 season-opening Fortinet Championship. Matsuyama and his brilliant approach play have a great opportunity to extend that list this week.

Click here to read the full article…

The PGA TOUR maintains a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. How the field qualified for the The American Express as of 1/14/2022: Check here for updates. Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship (prior to 1996) Davis Love III Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship (five-year exemption) Si Woo Kim Winner – Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Patrick Reed Winner – U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Jon Rahm Gary Woodland Winner – PGA Championship (five-year exemption) Phil Mickelson Winner – Open Championship (five-year exemption) Francesco Molinari Winner – World Golf Championship Event (three-year exemption) Abraham Ancer Winner – Arnold Palmer Invitational & Memorial Tournament (three-year exemption) Patrick Cantlay FedExCup Champion (five-year exemption) Justin Rose Member of most recent U.S. Ryder Cup Team Tony Finau Scottie Scheffler Career Money Exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas Rory Sabbatini Nick Watney Past Champion – The American Express Jason Dufner Brian Gay Andrew Landry Adam Long Hudson Swafford Mark Wilson PGA Section Champion Kyle Mendoza Sponsor’s Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Jonathan Byrd Camilo Villegas Sponsor’s Exemptions – Unrestricted James Hart du Preez Chan Kim John Pak T.J. Vogel PGA TOUR Tournament Winner (two-year exemption) Cameron Champ Corey Conners Jason Day Tyler Duncan Rickie Fowler Dylan Frittelli Lucas Glover Talor Gooch Lanto Griffin Jim Herman Charles Howell III Sungjae Im Sung Kang Patton Kizzire Martin Laird Nate Lashley K.H. Lee Graeme McDowell Sebastián Muñoz Carlos Ortiz C.T. Pan J.T. Poston Seamus Power Chez Reavie Robert Streb Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Jimmy Walker Richy Werenski Matthew Wolff Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Charley Hoffman Alex Noren Brian Harman Cameron Tringale Harold Varner III Tom Hoge Russell Henley Emiliano Grillo Jhonattan Vegas Chris Kirk Kevin Streelman Harry Higgs Troy Merritt Pat Perez Andrew Putnam Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Doc Redman Roger Sloan Brandt Snedeker Hank Lebioda Tyler McCumber Denny McCarthy Luke List Adam Hadwin Brendan Steele Sepp Straka James Hahn Zach Johnson Russell Knox Sam Ryder Matthew NeSmith Scott Piercy Anirban Lahiri Brice Garnett Scott Stallings Chesson Hadley Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List (Non-member) Will Zalatoris Major Medical Extension Danny Lee Kevin Chappell Ryan Moore Wesley Bryan Seung-Yul Noh Kelly Kraft Jonas Blixt Leading Points Winners – Korn Ferry Tour Joseph Bramlett (The Finals 25 — Finals Points) Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reordered) Cameron Young Patrick Rodgers Hayden Buckley J.J. Spaun Taylor Pendrith Taylor Moore Vince Whaley Aaron Rai Alex Smalley Trey Mullinax John Huh Davis Riley Chad Ramey Sahith Theegala Max McGreevy Greyson Sigg Seth Reeves Curtis Thompson Andrew Novak Bronson Burgoon Austin Cook Lee Hodges Christiaan Bezuidenhout Nick Hardy Adam Svensson Justin Lower David Skinns David Lipsky Dawie van der Walt Peter Uihlein Michael Gligic Paul Barjon Dylan Wu Scott Gutschewski Brandon Wu Chris Stroud Austin Smotherman Ben Kohles Brett Drewitt Kurt Kitayama

Click here to read the full article…

The PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open shifts to a Wednesday-Saturday schedule this week. Here’s how to watch on ESPN+.

Click here to read the full article…