Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa will bid to win his first tournament of the year as he defends his Zozo Championship title in Japan.
Morikawa cruised to a six-shot victory at Narashino Country Club 12 months ago to end a two-year title drought.
“It’s a place I look forward to every year,” the 27-year-old American, who has Japanese heritage, said. “Knowing that I won last year, [there’s a] lot of good memories.
“It was my first win in two years. Look, winning’s tough. No matter what it is, winning is tough. You have to learn how to win. I wouldn’t say easy, but it came in a few bunches early on in my career.
“So just being able to close that out on Sunday knowing that I had a good first round, struggled a little bit second round, came through in the third round and then ultimately played really, really good in the fourth round, a lot of things stick out.
“Just being able to win again and being on top of that leaderboard at the end of Sunday, that’s everything to me.”
LOWEST SCORE AT TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
The world number four has not won in 2024 despite carding the lowest 72-hole total in the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where the controversial handicap system helped Scottie Scheffler win his seventh event of the season.
“I’ve had a solid year, but I haven’t won. I’ve got one more opportunity at that,” the former US PGA and Open Championship winner added.
“Every week I go in I’m always pretty confident, no matter how the game is and no matter how things are playing out. I ended my season on a pretty strong note.
“Through the play-offs, Tour Championship, Presidents Cup I played really solid. It’s nice going in a tournament looking back at recent play, but you just never know what to expect, right?
“Every tournament’s different, you never know how you’re going to play on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You’ve got to treat each day and each shot and take everything that’s in front of you and not take anything for granted.
“The confidence is high, but I still have to execute my shots, I still have to play good golf, play smart golf. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into this every single week and I look forward to putting it all out there.”