A year ago in Japan, Keegan Bradley began a career revival of sorts. His impressive track record at the Zozo Championship—he had finished inside the top 15 in his first two starts at the event—continued with a victory in the 2022 edition, the PGA Tour veteran ending a 1,498-day winning drought. The performance jumpstarted a season in which the 37-year-old finished second at the Farmers Insurance Open in Janaury and won again at the Travelers Championship in June.
“I’ve been crying since I finished,” Bradley said last year at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club when recording his then fifth career PGA Tour win. “I can’t remember the last time I cried. I never experienced emotions like that after winning a tournament.”
To repeat as the winner, Bradley will have to hold off several top ranked players as 16 of the World top 50 are competing this week in Japan. Among them are Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Rickier Fowler, Sungjae Im, Kurt Kitayama, Sahith Theegala and Emiliano Grillo. Also competing is local favorite, Masters champ and 2021 Zozo winner Hideki Matsuyama, the Japanese native playing for the first time on tour since the FedEx St. Jude Championship after he was forced to drop out of the BMW Championship due to a back injury.
Japanese golf prodigies Takumi Kanaya and Kaito Onishi are set to play this week, with the top eight available from the Japan Golf Tour’s money list getting spots in the limited-field, no-cut event along with three additional sponsor’s exemptions exclusively for Japan Golf Tour members.
The winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points and a $1.53 million share of the $8.5 million purse.
TV Schedule
Golf Channel and Peacock will carry live coverage from Wednesday into Thursday through Saturday into Sunday from 11 p.m. – 3 a.m. ET.
Leaderboard
Find all live PGA Tour scoring data here.
ZOZO DFS picks—We’re buying the Keegan Bradley snub angle
Tee Times (all times EDT) FIRST ROUND (Thursday morning Japan/Wednesday evening U.S.)
First tee
7:45 p.m. — David Lingmerth, Callum Tarren, Yuki Inamori
7:56 p.m. — Aaron Baddeley, Robby Shelton, Mikumu Horikawa
8:07 p.m. — Matt Wallace, Mackenzie Hughes, Joel Dahmen
8:18 p.m. — Lee Hodges, Adam Svensson, Adam Schenk
8:29 p.m. — Nate Lashley, Keith Mitchell, Austin Eckroat
8:40 p.m. — Mark Hubbard, Matt NeSmith, Aguri Iwasaki
8:51 p.m. — Aaron Rai, Kevin Yu, Trevor Werbylo
9:02 p.m. — Alex Noren, Tyson Alexander, Shugo Imahira
9:13 p.m. — Beau Hossler, Nicolai Hojgaard, Ryo Hisatsune
9:24 p.m. — Sahith Theegala, Sungjae Im, Kaito Onishi
9:35 p.m. — Vincent Norrman, Nick Hardy, Cam Davis
9:46 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama
9:57 p.m. — Taylor Montgomery, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima
10th tee
7:45 p.m. — Satoshi Kodaira, Zac Blair, Harry Hall
7:56 p.m. — Brandon Wu, Thomas Detry, Taiga Semikawa
8:07 p.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Cameron Champ, Ryo Ishikawa
8:18 p.m. — K.H. Lee, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott
8:29 p.m. — Taylor Moore, Kurt Kitayama, Xander Schauffele
8:40 p.m. — Eric Cole, Will Gordon, Takumi Kanaya
8:51 p.m. — S.H. Kim, Sam Stevens, Justin Lower
9:02 p.m. — Ben Griffin, Justin Suh, Kensei Hirata
9:13 p.m. — Hayden Buckley, Ben Taylor, Young-han Song
9:24 p.m. — Nick Taylor, J.J. Spaun, Tom Hoge
9:35 p.m. — Emiliano Grillo, Davis Riley, Garrick Higgo
9:46 p.m. — Michael Kim, Sam Ryder, Dylan Wu
9:57 p.m. — David Lipsky, Andrew Novak, Ryutaro Nagano
SECOND ROUND (Thursday morning Japan/Wednesday evening U.S.)
First tee
7:45 p.m. — Ben Griffin, Justin Suh, Kensei Hirata
7:56 p.m. — Hayden Buckley, Ben Taylor, Young-han Song
8:07 p.m. — Nick Taylor, J.J. Spaun, Tom Hoge
8:18 p.m. — Emiliano Grillo, Davis Riley, Garrick Higgo
8:29 p.m. — Michael Kim, Sam Ryder, Dylan Wu
8:40 p.m. — David Lipsky, Andrew Novak, Ryutaro Nagano
8:51 p.m. — Satoshi Kodaira, Zac Blair, Harry Hall
9:02 p.m. — Brandon Wu, Thomas Detry, Taiga Semikawa
9:13 p.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Cameron Champ, Ryo Ishikawa
9:24 p.m. — K.H. Lee, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott
9:35 p.m. — Taylor Moore, Kurt Kitayama, Xander Schauffele
9:46 p.m. — Eric Cole, Will Gordon, Takumi Kanaya
9:57 p.m. — S.H. Kim, Sam Stevens, Justin Lower
10th tee
7:45 p.m. — Alex Noren, Tyson Alexander, Shugo Imahira
7:56 p.m. — Beau Hossler, Nicolai Hojgaard, Ryo Hisatsune
8:07 p.m. — Sahith Theegala, Sungjae Im, Kaito Onishi
8:18 p.m. — Vincent Norrman, Nick Hardy, Cam Davis
8:29 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama
8:40 p.m. — Taylor Montgomery, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima
8:51 p.m. — David Lingmerth, Callum Tarren, Yuki Inamori
9:02 p.m. — Aaron Baddeley, Robby Shelton, Mikumu Horikawa
9:13 p.m. — Matt Wallace, Mackenzie Hughes, Joel Dahmen
9:24 p.m. — Lee Hodges, Adam Svensson, Adam Schenk
9:35 p.m. — Nate Lashley, Keith Mitchell, Austin Eckroat
9:46 p.m. — Mark Hubbard, Matt NeSmith, Aguri Iwasaki
9:57 p.m. — Aaron Rai, Kevin Yu, Trevor Werbylo
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com