2024 Zozo Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Narashino CC

Golf in Japan! Players will make the trek to Tokyo this week for the 2024 Zozo Championship, with much to play for. It is a special week for Hideki Matsuyama, Takumi Kanaya, Kensei Hirata, and the other Japanese players in the field. They will be playing for something more meaningful and unquantifiable: honor.

Justin Thomas - Zozo Championship 2024 / Lintao Zhang/GettyImages

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2) Hideki Matsuyama

Hideki Matsuyama is this event. I mentioned how he has forever entrenched himself as a cultural legend in Japan. The crowds this week will reflect that. He is teeing it up with Justin Thomas and Si Woo Kim -- the former no stranger to fan support. This week, it will feel like JT is playing an away game.

Matsuyama's ball striking has become undeniable in recent years, especially on Sunday. He ranks 15th on Tour in strokes gained on approach shots, but I challenge you to name three guys you'd rather have hitting into 18, needing a birdie.

A Masters victory, an Olympic Silver Medal, the list goes on. Matsuyama carries the entire weight of a country on his shoulders every time he tees it up. This week will be no different. He's won the Zozo once, but I promise you he's as eager to get number two.

1) Collin Morikawa

“There are only a few places around the world where you hope to win before the end of your career, and for me, Japan is one of those places," Morikawa said.

The American has been playing superb golf for half a year now, and it is surprising that he failed to win in the 2024 season. He has six (!) finishes inside the top five, kickstarted by a T3 at The Masters. It's only a matter of time before the wins start to pile up again.

"They can see that someone like them has been able to succeed out here on the PGA Tour," Morikawa said about the Japanese fans at the Zozo Championship. Safe to say the defending champ is in his element this week.

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