‘Ride that momentum’: Jacob Bridgeman picks up where he left off at Baycurrent Classic after delivering in first Presidents Cup

Three weeks separate the first and third FedExCup Fall events, and for recent Presidents Cup clincher Jacob Bridgeman, the time has only seemed to highlight how his game has matured (and traveled) in 2026.

The 26-year-old who won the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville opened with a bogey-free, 8-under 63 at Yokohama Country Club for a one-stroke lead over England’s Jordan Smith at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan. Unsurprisingly, the PGA Tour’s No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Putting led the 72-man field in that department on Thursday.

It can be easy to forget Bridgeman broke through on the Tour just in February at The Genesis Invitational, the season’s second Signature Event. Since that first winning moment on the iconic 18th green at Riviera, he has racked up four top fives, 11 top 25s and made 23 of 24 cuts. After a largely barren summer, Bridgeman played some of his best golf in the FedExCup Playoffs (ninth at BMW Championship and T4 at Tour Championship) to catch the eye of now-victorious U.S. Team Presidents Cup Captain Brandt Snedeker.

He crossed the Pacific Ocean after not practicing a whole lot following the Americans’ historic Sunday Singles session that pulled them out of a three-point deficit at Medinah. It’s as if he didn’t miss a beat, adding the emotional weight of his sister’s wedding in Maine on top of that team event overflow.

“Yeah, it was great. We had an amazing Sunday, it was just incredible to be a part of. I don't know if any team's ever won that many points on Sunday, so it was pretty cool to kind of see the red on the board the whole day and just kind of ride that momentum,” said Bridgeman, who went 1-2-0 in his first time wearing the stars and stripes as a pro. “Yeah, I wouldn't say I was fatigued or anything after, I just kind of wanted to take a little bit of a rest. We're technically in the offseason, so just wanted to take a little rest and have some family time.”

Starting on Yokohama’s No. 10 tee, Bridgeman opened with three straight pars but went out in 3-under 32 and turned on the afterburners with four consecutive birdies from Nos. 5-8. He has now carded 64 or better in each of his last three rounds going back to his win at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove. Recent success isn't keeping the two-time Tour winner this season from looking at areas of improvement.

“I still felt a little rusty, but I felt good over my iron shots. I guess just a couple things I'm going to go tune up on the range. I felt like I hit it in good spots, I gave myself some pretty easy putts,” Bridgeman said.

This week marks Bridgeman’s first trip to the Tour’s stop in Japan, but he did have the benefit of this not being his first time in the Land of the Rising Sun. And as he is viewing the fall largely like an offseason, the South Carolina native said he’s looking forward to being more of a tourist after play wraps on Sunday, with the incentive of treating himself and his wife, Haley, to something they didn’t do after their own wedding day.

“Yeah, right after high school I played in the Toyota Junior World Cup. It was like four of us from the U.S. played against some guys from other countries in a stroke-play format and we were in Nagoya, a really, really cool city. I had the best time,” Bridgeman said. “I've been telling my wife for years that I wanted to come back, and we weren't able to come to this tournament last year because we had some stuff going on, but we were pumped to get over here. We're going to stay a few days after as well to spend some time.”

“I think we're going to Kyoto to spend a few days. We didn't do a honeymoon after we got married in December (2025) so we're kind of doing a little bit of an extended honeymoon in a sense.”

Not having to stress over retaining a Tour card like those hovering around the FedExCup top-100 bubble certainly helps the rare non-domestic tournament on the calendar feel more like an opportunity rather than a white-knuckle business trip.