{"id":12750,"date":"2026-10-07T06:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T06:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/12750\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T06:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T06:59:15","slug":"american-troops-get-up-close-look-at-pga-tour-stars-during-tourney-near-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/12750\/","title":{"rendered":"American troops get up-close look at PGA Tour stars during tourney near Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Keegan<\/p>\n

\n Keegan Bradley, winner of the 2011 PGA Championship, demonstrates a chip shot for U.S. military community members at Yokohama Country Club near Tokyo, Oct. 6, 2026. (Seth Robson\/Stars and Stripes)
\n <\/p>\n

YOKOHAMA, Japan \u2014 Keegan Bradley traded tournament pressure for a practice green Tuesday, showing U.S. troops and family members a few tricks of his trade ahead of the PGA Tour\u2019s Baycurrent Classic near Tokyo. <\/p>\n

The former U.S. Ryder Cup captain and 2011 PGA Championship winner demonstrated chipping and putting for about 40 members of the U.S. military community, including a series of flop shots that sent the ball almost straight up from his lob wedge. <\/p>\n

The group visited Yokohama Country Club on Tuesday \u2014 a tournament practice day \u2014 and watched professional golfers on the driving range and practice greens while also collecting autographs. <\/p>\n

Bradley, who won the tournament in 2023, told the group he wanted to become a professional golfer from an early age but never believed he possessed the natural talent of the game\u2019s best players. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I have to work harder than those guys to stay at this level,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m working harder than ever now.\u201d <\/p>\n

The work hasn\u2019t diminished his competitive drive, Bradley said. After 16 years on the PGA Tour, he still gets nervous during rounds and wants to beat the rest of the field every time he competes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m in contention to win tournaments, it\u2019s a different kind of pressure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"Keegan<\/p>\n

\n Keegan Bradley, winner of the 2011 PGA Championship, signs a ballcap for Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brian Downer at Yokohama Country Club near Tokyo, Oct. 6, 2026. (Seth Robson\/Stars and Stripes)
\n <\/p>\n

\"American<\/p>\n

\n American professional golfer Justin Thomas hits on the driving range at Yokohama Country Club, near Tokyo, Oct. 6, 2026, ahead of the Baycurrent Classic. (Seth Robson\/Stars and Stripes)
\n <\/p>\n

Bradley, a former competitive ski racer from New England, said the two sports have more in common than might be apparent. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are in the starting gate, you are completely alone,\u201d he said of ski racing, comparing the experience to standing alone on the first tee to begin a tournament. <\/p>\n

Tech. Sgt. Brian Downer, an avid golfer who traveled by bus from Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, came away with Bradley\u2019s autograph on his ballcap and a lesson from watching the professionals prepare. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing I\u2019ve learned from being here is watching the pros on the range,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are super deliberate in practice as if they are playing real shots.\u201d <\/p>\n

Military personnel at Tuesday\u2019s event live or work at installations in and around Tokyo and at the U.S. Embassy, said Patrick Bowman, manager of Tama Hills Golf & Resort, an Air Force facility in suburban Tokyo. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe PGA wants us out here,\u201d he said of the military community\u2019s involvement in the tournament. <\/p>\n

About 100 volunteers from the bases will help keep score and provide updates to broadcasters during the tournament, Bowman said. <\/p>\n

U.S. military ID cardholders also receive free admission to the tournament through Sunday, he added. <\/p>\n

The tournament was previously known as the Zozo Championship, which Tiger Woods won in 2019. <\/p>\n

Two-time major champion and Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele will defend his title against a field that includes Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keegan Bradley, winner of the 2011 PGA Championship, demonstrates a chip shot for U.S. military community members at…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_volume":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7450,7447,7446,7448,94,95,7449],"class_list":["post-12750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-baycurrent-classic","tag-golf-clinic","tag-keegan-bradley-pga-tour-japan","tag-military-families-tokyo","tag-pga","tag-pga-tour","tag-pga-tour-tokyo","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@fogolf\/117398337226299480","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}