Another PGA Tour winner, another subsequent withdrawal. Hours after Austin Smotherman celebrated his first PGA Tour win (in his 100th start), he decided against playing in Japan this week.
The 2026 Baycurrent Classic, a limited-field event with only 72 players, has a strong lineup, but Smotherman is taking it easy now that he's a Tour winner.
The PGA Tour announced three WDs on Monday, with Smotherman's spot going to AJ Ewart, who then WD'd, which allowed Lee Hodges to get some tee times at Yokohama Country Club in Yokohama, Japan.
Earlier Monday, Yuta Sugiura pulled out, with Tomohiro Ishizaka taking that spot. On Saturday, the Baycurrent's first WD was Tom Kim, who had just won gold in the Asian Games, which allows him to bow out of military
service in South Korea.
The Baycurrent Classic is the lone PGA Tour event in Japan. Xander Schauffele is the defending champion.
PGA Tour golfers who won, then WD'd
Jacob Bridgeman backed out of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches after winning the biggest (to date) tournament of his career at the Genesis Invitational.
Surprise PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai withdrew from the Byron Nelson CJ Cup the following week after his victory at Aronimink.
J.T. Poston's victory at the Memorial Tournament at Jack's Place was a landmark title for him, but it led him to WD from the RBC Canadian Open the next week.
Ryan Fox, who was 56th in the OWGR and scheduled to play the 3M Open, WD'd from that event hours after he won his first major at Royal Birkdale at The Open 2026 (and thus vaulting to 22nd in the world).
Michael Thorbjornsen won his first PGA Tour event at the Rocket Classic and hours later pulled out of the regular-season finale at the Wyndham Championship.
Smotherman joined the list after winning at Black Desert Resort.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Fresh off first PGA Tour win, Austin Smotherman WDs from Baycurrent Classic
