Hideki Matsuyama makes slow start to ZOZO Championship defence, seven behind Brendan Steele

ByAlex Livie

Published 13/10/2022 at 13:16 GMT

The Zozo Championship got underway under dark skies at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. The PGA Tour’s regular trip to Japan has attracted some star names, with local favourite Hideki Matsuyama back to defend the title he won last year. The 2021 Masters champion made a slow start to his challenge and sits seven shots adrift of leader Brendan Steele after the opening 18 holes.

Hideki Matsuyama made a slow start to the defence of his ZOZO Championship crown, as Brendan Steele charged to the top of the leaderboard.

Arguably one of the biggest sporting stars in Japan, Matsuyama had major support on a wet day at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.

But he was unable to feed off the support as he carded an opening round of 71 to sit at one-over.

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Things started well for the 2021 Masters champion as he birdied the third after an excellent tee shot and confident putt.

But the opening round on Thursday mirrored his 2022 campaign, as he failed to find any consistency.

He gave the birdie back one hole later and further birdies and bogeys followed on the back nine to leave him seven shots adrift of the leader.

Matsuyama sits alongside big names Sungjae Im and Collin Morikawa, and they have work to do over the next three days.

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First Round Leaderboard

• 1. Brendan Steele, six-under
• 2. Adam Schenk, five-under
• T3. Sam Ryder, four-under
• T3. Matthew NeSmith, four-under
• T3. Keegan Bradley, four-under
• T6. Rickie Fowler, three-under
• T6. Xander Schauffele, three-under
• T6. Kazuki Higa, three-under
• T6. Maverick McNealy, three-under
• T6, Mito Pereira, three-under

Steele was the hot man on the course on day one, as he recorded the same score Matsuyama posted in the opening round when going on to win 12 months ago.

The front nine was uneventful for Steele, with one birdie on his card. But he caught fire on the inward nine - notably making four birdies on the spin from 15 to 18 - the highlight being a slam-dunk from the fairway on 17.

“Everybody says if you birdie 18, dinner tastes better,” Steele said. “But four in a row is definitely really nice and feels good.”

Steele holds a one-stroke lead over Adam Schenk, while pre-tournament favourite Xander Schauffele is well placed at three-under.

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Rickie Fowler is another player at three-under, with the American showing signs of form after a couple of years in the wilderness.

Like Steele, Keegan Bradley birdied his final four holes to get to four-under and into a tie for third alongside Matthew NeSmith and Sam Ryder.

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