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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
The FedEx Cup fall schedule is halfway over, and there’s plenty at stake in the final four tournaments for the golfers who are still trying to secure their PGA Tour cards and playing privileges for 2025.
The FedEx Cup fall finalizes the top 125 golfers who will be eligible for full-field events and the Players Championship next season, as well as the final 10 players who will qualify for the first two signature events of 2025: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational.
“For some guys that are here this week, I mean, it’s a matter of keeping their job or not,” said defending Zozo Championship winner Collin Morikawa. “With such a small field, it’s an opportunity for some of these guys to make a big leap because they’re going to be able to play four rounds, they’re going to be getting points. This is a big tournament.”
There are five golfers in the 78-man field at this week’s Zozo Championship who are currently at Nos. 51-60 in the FedEx Cup fall standings: No. 53 Séamus Power. No. 54 Patrick Rodgers, No. 55 Maverick McNealy, No. 58 Nick Taylor and No. 60 Kevin Yu. They need to play well.
Among the players who are trying to climb into the top 60 who are playing in Japan are Ben Griffin (No. 62), Min Woo Lee (No. 63), Beau Hossler (No. 65), Brendon Todd (No. 66) and Taylor Moore (No. 67). They need to play better.
In regard to the top 125, Michael Kim (No. 112) and Joe Highsmith (No. 125) climbed on the right side of the bubble after last week’s Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, while Kevin Tway (No. 126) and Joel Dahmen (No. 129) fell out.
Daniel Berger, who is trying to come back after a long layoff because of a back injury, is 128th in points. Past U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, who recovered from brain surgery in September 2023, is 137th.
Dahmen, who received a sponsor exemption to compete in the Zozo Championship, withdrew from the Shriners Children’s Open before the second round after he was assessed a four-stroke penalty for having an extra club in his bag.
Here are some storylines to watch at the Zozo Championship, which tees off Thursday at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan.
Homa is rebuilding
Max Homa arrived in Japan searching for his swing and confidence after enduring a difficult FedEx Cup campaign. He had just three top-10 finishes in 21 starts and hasn’t had a top-20 since tying for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 12.
“I mean, I played terribly,” Homa said.
Homa parted ways with his swing coach, Mark Blackburn, after he finished last in the field at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at 11 over.
“I’m definitely a little rusty,” Homa said. “I took a bit of time off after the Presidents Cup. I’ve had some help along the way, but it’s been nice trying to figure out and own my own stuff a bit more. But yeah, the swing feels OK.”
Homa, ranked 27th in the Official World Golf Ranking, missed the cut in his previous start at the Procore Championship in Napa, California.
“Again, you could get a little rusty when you’re working on new stuff, it’s not really the most fun thing in the world,” Homa said. “At times, golf can feel like riding a bike, especially when you get on a golf course, you’re not on the range, you can start seeing shots and feel what’s going to work well.
“This is a good golf course to do that on because the holes are shaped really nicely by the trees. It’s definitely been a chaotic few weeks, especially the last week getting ready for this, but we got here Sunday and I was happy to have Monday through Wednesday to get some work in and spend a bunch of time on the course.”
While Homa ranks 120th in shots gained: total (-.096) and 161st off the tee (-.414), he did gain ground in his short game this season. He ranks 31st in shots gained: around the green (.232) and 28th in sand saves (60.9%).
“I am excited for ’25 in that a lot of things I wasn’t particularly good at to start ’24, I did become quite good at,” Homa said. “So, with another couple months of work and being able to hone in the things I didn’t do well in the past season, you know, I still grew in areas. It just didn’t show because I didn’t drive it well this season.”
Tiger’s on their minds
It’s almost the five-year anniversary of Tiger Woods’ last victory. The last of his 82 PGA Tour wins was at the 2019 Zozo Championship, when he beat national hero Hideki Matsuyama by three strokes.
Homa said he will never forget the sight of hundreds of fans lining the street with Tiger signs on a day the course was closed to the public.
“Obviously, Tiger is massive everywhere he goes, but the crowds that week were absolutely incredible,” Homa said. “Tiger is the needle, he makes all of that go.”
Woods isn’t in the field after announcing on Sept. 13 that he had undergone another surgery on his lower back to try to relieve spasms that plagued him this season. It was the sixth surgery on his lower back in the past 10 years.
The 15-time major champion didn’t say how long the recovery would take. Woods also wasn’t in the initial field for the Hero World Challenge, a tournament he hosts in the Bahamas on Dec. 5-8. The field includes five of the top 10 and 17 of the top 25 in the OWGR, including world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler. There are three sponsor exemptions remaining for the 20-man field, and Woods has used one of them in the past.
Schauffele’s homecoming
Only one of Xander Schauffele’s two major championship trophies made the trip to Japan — the Claret Jug, which he captured by winning The Open by two strokes at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland on July 21.
“You can’t put it in a carry-on, I’ll say that much,” Schauffele said. “It would be a massive trunk.”
Schauffele said he couldn’t wait to show the famous trophy to his maternal grandparents, who live in Japan. His mother, Ping Yi, was born in Taiwan but moved to Japan as a child.
When Schauffele won a gold medal in golf at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to leave the bubble at the Olympic Village to celebrate with his grandparents.
They had adjoining rooms at a hotel near Narashino Country Club.
“I don’t get to see them very often, so delivering the gold medal to them was really special during that COVID year,” Schauffele said. “I think delivering another win in front of them and for them would be even more special.”
JT’s big month
Justin Thomas is making his first start in Japan in five years. He is preparing for an even bigger event back home — the birth of his first child. His wife, Jillian, is expecting a baby girl in November.
“Any golf shot or situation I am in this week, it’s not going to be anything close to as hard as it’s going to be in a month or so when our little one comes,” Thomas said. “We’re very fortunate with the timing for me being able to come here. I think reality will probably set in when I get home because it will be crunch time.
“I know my wife’s going to be an unbelievable mom, and I’m excited for the opportunity to raise a little girl. It’s going to be great. But this week I’m focused on business and trying to win a golf tournament. Then it’s time to go home and get ready to be a dad.”
Thomas and his wife, the former Jillian Wisniewski, married in November 2022. Thomas has had plenty of time to get things prepared. He hasn’t played since a tie for 14th at the Tour Championship in early September.
“All I know is I’ll be as ready as I possibly can and we’re going to make the most out of every situation we can,” Thomas said. “I can’t tell you honestly if I’m ready because I’ve never done it before. I’ll let you know in a couple months. It will be a challenge in different ways, but one that we’re excited for.”
