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2021 Zozo Championship: Groups to Watch Thursday, Friday

By Tim Letcher

USA's Xander Schauffele (L) and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (R) look on before they tee off from the 5th tee in round 4 of the mens golf individual stroke play during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)
USA's Xander Schauffele (L) and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (R) look on before they tee off from the 5th tee in round 4 of the mens golf individual stroke play during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images) /
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The PGA Tour is in Japan this week for the 2021 Zozo Championship. The field has a number of very good players and should be fun to watch. Here are the top five groups to watch on Thursday and Friday.

Hideki Matsuyama, C.T. Pan, Xander Schauffele – Matsuyama will be the crowd favorite this week in his native Japan. He finished second to Tiger Woods here two years ago. Pan, who took the bronze medal in the Olympics in Japan over thes summer, has had a hot start to the season with a T6 at the Fortinet Championship and a T11 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Schauffele won the gold medal at the Olympics in Japan, had a huge Ryder Cup and finished T18 at the CJ Cup last week.

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Joaquin Niemann, Carlos Ortiz, Will Zalatoris – Three of the games brightest young stars are in this grouping. Niemann is just 22 years old and has already won nearly $10 million on tour. Ortiz, the elder of the group at 30, finished T25 last week at the CJ Cup. Zalatoris, age 25, finished T11 (Fortinet) and T14 (Sanderson Farms) in his first two starts this season.

Garrick Higgo, Collin Morikawa, Erik van Rooyen – Higgo missed the cut at the Shriners in his only start so far this season. Morikawa ralled on the weekend at the CJ Cup, coming up one shot shy of Rory McIlroy. van Rooyen finished T25 last week after missing the cut at the Shriners.

Rickie Fowler, Harry Higgs, Ryan Palmer – Fowler had the 54-hole lead last week at the CJ Cup before finishing T3. It was his best finish on tour since 2019. Higgs finished T9 last week at the CJ Cup, following a T27 at the Shriners Children’s Open. Palmer missed the cut at the Shriners, which was his first start on tour this season.

Next. 2021 CJ Cup: Winners and Losers from Las Vegas. dark

Charley Hoffman, K.H. Lee, Brendon Todd – Hoffman will be playing in his fifth event already this season. He has made the cut in the previous four, but his only Top 25 came at the Fortinet Championship. Lee has Top 25s in his last two starts (T14 at the Shriners Children’s Open and T25 at the CJ Cup). Todd finished T22 at the Fortinet but missed the cut at the Sanderson Farms in his only other start so far this season.

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