Sugiura Skips $8M Home Event in Japan to Chase PGA Tour Card in Virginia

Yuta Sugiura made the boldest travel decision of the golf season this week. The 25-year-old from Aichi, Japan, withdrew on Monday from the Baycurrent Classic — the PGA Tour's lone stop in his home country, where he held a sponsor's exemption and an $8 million purse was on offer — and instead boarded a plane from Oklahoma to Virginia. His destination is The Federal Club in Glen Allen, site of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, the 25th and final event of the season. Sugiura sits No. 21 on the points list, fewer than six points behind Cole Hammer for the 20th and final spot that carries fully exempt status on the PGA Tour in 2027. With a $1.5 million purse — less than a fifth of Baycurrent's — the stakes could hardly be higher for him. Asked whether giving up the Japan start was difficult, Sugiura did not hesitate: he wants to play on the world's best tour. His father introduced him to golf at age four, and he has worked with swing coach Masatsugu Ohki since he was ten. After starring at Nihon University, he turned professional at 22 and became only the seventh amateur in Japan Golf Tour history to win an event at the 2023 Dunlop Phoenix, where he overhauled 54-hole leader Hideki Matsuyama. He was named Japan Golf Tour Rookie of the Year in 2025. Now one good week in Virginia could change everything.