2020 ZoZo Championship Preview

2020 ZoZo Championship Preview

• 2020 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD
• Dates: October 19-25, 2020
• Where: Thousand Oaks, California
• Course: Sherwood Country Club
• Defending champion: Tiger Woods
• Purse: $8,000,000/$1,440,000
• FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
• Format: 72-hole stroke play (no cut)
• Field size: 78

Things to Know

• The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD moves to Thousand Oaks, California for one year after debuting in 2019 at its Japanese home of Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan
• Sherwood Country Club served as the home of the Hero World Challenge from 2000 through 2013
• After winning his 82^nd career PGA TOUR title at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in 2019, Tiger Woods seeks second consecutive win at the event and record-breaking 83^rd career victory
• Field includes 61 of the top 63 players from the 2019-20 FedExCup standings
• Eight Japanese players in the field, including five-time PGA TOUR winner Hideki Matsuyama and former top- ranked amateur Takumi Kanaya

Field Notes

• 25 of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including eight of the top-10 players: Jon Rahm (No. 2), Justin Thomas (No. 3), Collin Morikawa (No. 4), Rory McIlroy (No. 5), Xander Schauffele (No. 7), Webb Simpson (No. 8), Tyrrell Hatton (No. 9), Patrick Reed (No. 10)
• 55 PGA TOUR winners combining for 338 titles and 14 major championship winners
• 28 of the 30 players who qualified for the 2020 TOUR Championship
• Six FedExCup champions: Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019), Justin Rose (2018), Justin Thomas (2017), Jordan Spieth (2015), Billy Horschel (2014), Tiger Woods (2007, 2009)
• Eight Japanese players: Mikumu Horikawa, Rikuya Hoshino, Shugo Imahira, Ryo Ishikawa, Takumi Kanaya, Satoshi Kadoira, Hideki Matsuyama and Naoki Sekito
• 11 players qualifying via the Japan Golf Tour: Kim Chan, Gunn Charoenkul, Mikumu Horikawa, Rikuya Hoshino, Shugo Imahira, Ryo Ishikawa, Takumi Kanaya, Brad Kennedy, Shaun Norris, Naoki Sekito, Jazz Janewattananond

A look back at the 2020 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

Pos	Player	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1st	Tiger Woods	64	64	66	67	261 (-19)
2nd	Hideki Matsuyama	65	67	65	67	264 (-16)
T3	Sungjae Im	71	64	67	65	267 (-13)
T3	Rory McIlroy	72	65	63	67	267 (-13)
5th	Gary Woodland	64	66	68	70	268 (-12)

• Tiger Woods tied Sam Snead’s TOUR record of 82 career PGA TOUR victories with his three-stroke win
• In the first ever PGA TOUR event in his home country, Matsuyama finished solo second

Current FedExCup standings (players in bold are in the field)

Pos	Player	Points	Wins	Top-10s	Starts
1	Bryson DeChambeau	675	1	2	2
2	Matthew Wolff	578	0	2	3
3	Stewart Cink	562	1	1	3
4	Jason Kokrak	553	1	1	3
5	Sergio Garcia	548	1	1	5
6	Martin Laird	532	1	1	4
7	Hudson Swafford	505	1	1	4
8	Xander Schauffele	420	0	2	2
9	Peter Malnati	411	0	2	4
10	Tyler McCumber	383	0	2	4

Top Player Notes

Tiger Woods (World No. 28)

• Won his 82^nd career PGA TOUR title at the 2019 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club
• With a successful title defense, would surpass Sam Snead for most career PGA TOUR victories (currently tied at 82)
• Making his second start of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season following a missed cut at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club
• Japan became the seventh country where Woods has won a PGA TOUR event, joining the United States, England, Scotland, Spain, Canada and Ireland
• Won twice previously on the Japan Golf Tour (2004 Dunlop Phoenix, 2005 Dunlop Phoenix)
• Won the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial PGA TOUR event, five times at Sherwood Country Club (2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011)
• In addition to the five wins, notched five runner-up finishes totaling 10 top-two finishes from 2000-2013

Justin Thomas (FedExCup No. 32, World No. 3)

• 2020 marks his second appearance at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP (T17/2019)
• Making his third start of the 2019-20 season coming off a T12 finish at last week’s CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK where he is a two-time champion (2017, 2019)
• Owns four victories in 10 career PGA TOUR starts in Asia (2015 CIMB Classic, 2016 CIMB Classic, 2017 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, 2019 THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES)
• Leads the TOUR in fall wins (4) since the wraparound schedule started in 2013-14 (no other player has more than two in that span)

Rory McIlroy (FedExCup No. 44, World No. 5)

• 18-time PGA TOUR winner and two-time FedExCup champion
• Making his second start at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP after finishing T3 in 2019
• Finished T8 at the 2020 U.S. Open in September, his second consecutive top-10 at the event and fifth total
• Concluded the 2019-20 season tied for eighth in the FedExCup standings, highlighted by a win at the 2019 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions
• Competed in the Hero World Challenge twice when it was staged at Sherwood Country Club (4^th/2010, 11^th/2013)

Hideki Matsuyama (FedExCup No. 58, World No. 20)

• Five-time PGA TOUR winner finished second (264/-13) at the 2019 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, making him the top finisher among the nine Japanese players in the field
• 72-hole score of 16-under 264 tied the lowest of his career (other instance: 2017 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, his most recent PGA TOUR victory)
• During the 2019-20 season, qualified for his seventh consecutive TOUR Championship and finished 15th in the final FedExCup standings

Prior events at Sherwood Country Club

• QBE Shootout, unofficial PGA TOUR (1989-1999)
• Hero World Challenge, unofficial PGA TOUR (2000-2013)
• Invesco QQQ Championship, PGA TOUR Champions (2016-2019)
• Tiger Woods is the only player in the field to have won the Hero World Challenge when it was played at Sherwood

Miscellaneous Notes

• Jason Kokrak makes his second start at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP following his win at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Shadow Creek, his first PGA TOUR career victory
• Agoura Hills, California native Matthew Wolff makes his ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP debut in his hometown; Wolff has finished runner up in two of his three starts on TOUR this season (U.S. Open, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open)
• 2020 McCormack Medal winner and former top-ranked amateur Takumi Kanaya of Japan makes his second worldwide start as a professional and first on the PGA TOUR; made four starts on the PGA TOUR as an amateur (most recent: MC/2020 U.S. Open) and finished seventh at last week’s Japan Open
• Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Satoshi Kodaira, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods received sponsor exemptions

The 2020 ZoZo Championship Preview is via PGA TOUR