Matt Cooper takes a look at the PGA Tour’s annual visit to Japan.

There’s a lot of chatter about the on-going soothsaying success of the cryptic French scribbler Nostradamus. Never mind that the 16th century prophet was convinced that the world would end in July 1999, there are some who believe he nevertheless predicted the war in Ukraine, the death of Queen Elizabeth II and even the rise of Elon Musk.

Myself, I remain slightly agog at the extent to which the chorus of Alphaville’s 1984 worldwide hit predicted what would happen in last year’s ZOZO Championship.

“Oh, when you’re big in Japan, tonight,” they sang. “Big in Japaaa-aaan, be tight.” If that’s not telling us the home nation’s hero Hideki Matsuyama would triumph on the narrow, tree-lined fairways of Narashino Country Club near Tokyo I don’t know what it is. You don’t even need to decode it (or indeed make it up) as with Nostradamus.

Well, maybe not. Probably just a coincidence. What we do know, however, is that this is the strongest field so far of the 2022/23 PGA Tour season. It features Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa, both of whom have strong family connections with Japan, the in-form Koreans Sung-jae Im and Tom Kim, young tyros Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners, plus the English pair of Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood.

We, however, are going to take them all on with this trio.

Each Way – Cameron Young at 14/1

Can the 25-year-old New Yorker emulate Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris in following up a series of near-misses with a first win on the PGA Tour? Many will expect that to happen very soon and this week might be a golden opportunity.

Last season, his first at this level, he finished second five times and third twice, a superb series of performances that only just came up short of the win and plenty of those efforts read well this week.

As already mentioned, albeit in a flippant manner, Narashino is a tight and tree-lined layout. That calls to mind his third at Harbour Town, second at Potomac and second at Southern Hills in the PGA Championship. It’s also a traditional style test that would suit a repeat of his second place at Riviera Country Club.

This week also features clingy Zoysia grass on the fairways and in the rough. Young was second at Jackson Country Club last year, which is Bermuda grass but very lush and sticky.

Fresh off an enjoyable debut representing Team USA at the Presidents Cup, Young can chase down the elusive win.

Each Way – Mito Pereira at 28/1

Young was not alone in enjoying a superb spring – Chile’s Mito Pereira was also on fire as the trees blossomed. In fact, the 27-year-old even shared third place with the American in the second major championship of the year at Southern Hills, and a week later he was seventh at Colonial Country Club in the Charles Schwab Challenge. Both of those courses were tree-lined with bent grass on the greens as this week.

Pereira lost form in the summer, but he had done enough to qualify for the international team in the Presidents Cup (aided and abetted by the players who jumped ship to LIV Golf) and although he only reaped half a point from his three matches, the experience looked to give him a burst of energy and encouragement.

He immediately responded with three rounds of 67 and a 63 to claim fourth last week in the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. The clincher in his case is that, although he is a course debutant, he did finish tied third in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, missing out on bronze after a seven-man play-off. Good vibes as he looks to ride the wave.

Each Way – Aaron Rai at 66/1

As hinted above, all three picks this week are seeking a first win at this level and the last man is England’s Aaron Rai, whose rookie campaign in the States reaped plenty of weekend golf after a rough start. It was a good effort to build on and he’ll be keen to press on in the final round because his best golf tended to come during the first three days.

That happened again last week when he thrashed a Saturday 62, but this week might represent a great chance for him with the extra demands from the tee, because he’s arrow-straight (ranking 16th for Driving Accuracy last season) and his time in Europe backs up the idea that he can play between trees.

His first win on the second tier was at the wooded Muthaiga in Kenya, his first top 10 on the DP World Tour was at the very tight Valderrama, his first win at the tree-lined Hong Kong GC, and he very nearly won the Irish Open at the snug Galgorm Castle. He’s also a winner of the Scottish Open, a lucrative Rolex Series level event, and success on the PGA Tour is the next step and within his grasp.