Max Homa is among the high-profile PGA Tour names in Japan this week for the latest edition of the Zozo Championship.
The fifth of eight FedEx Cup fall events, the Zozo Championship takes place at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba.
Xander Schauffele is predicting a difficult tournament, with the world number two chasing his third win of the season.
His fellow American Homa is chasing his first, having won six times on the PGA Tour over the course of his career.
Justin Thomas loves the Zozo Championship course, which also welcomes the likes of PGA Tour heavyweights Collin Morikawa and Hideki Matsuyama.
Max Homa shares what he ‘couldn’t believe’ about the Zozo Championship
Homa hasn’t had his best season on the course, but he is in high spirits ahead of his next tournament, having played in Japan in 2019.
Discussing the competition in his Zozo Championship press conference, Homa said: “I think selfishly I want to be able to use golf to see the world, I have been lucky with my job that we get to go to so many amazing places. This is one of my favourite places I have ever been. The fact golf can bring me here is amazing.
“The other part is, and I feel like I learned this a bit from coming here in 2019, you see the fans and I couldn’t believe how many people were here. I asked someone about it, we were on the range on a Tuesday and it was pouring with rain and it was completely filled. Someone said that golf is such a big deal here and it’s not like they get to see us play in person, so they are very excited.
“It’s like if the Patriots and Tom Brady had come over here, just people you see on TV. You see the term grow the game comes up a lot and I do feel like we have a bit of responsibility when we can to come and play in a different market and in front of fans who would typically only see us on TV and put on some kind of show.”
Max Homa delighted to sign autographs at the Zozo Championship
Homa’s unbelievable trip to Japan in 2019 has clearly left a lasting impression, but it seems his 2024 journey will also go down in the memory books.
The PGA Tour schedule is, of course, dominated by US courses, with Homa and his compatriots undoubtedly grateful for a break from home action.
Matsuyama meanwhile will take immense pride in playing on Japanese soil, with the world number seven certain to garner the most crowd support this week.
READ MORE: Max Homa says it’s been ‘really fun’ to see how much one area of his game has now improved
Homa meanwhile is excited to get going once more at the Zozo Championship, having continued his effusive praise: “Here has been great. Yesterday there were a million people here, and you can tell how excited they are.
“I have never really had that much excitement over autographs before. You sort of have a sense of responsibility to travel around and be present in places that love golf.
“The PGA Tour is dominated by the United States, we’re mostly there, so when we have an opportunity to branch out I feel like it is pretty important to us.”
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