Hideki Matsuyama’s week started and ended with loads of stress.
His caddy and coach had their passports robbed in London, leaving Matsuyama with out his looper for the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. But it surely appeared like Matsuyama felt unfazed by the incident for the primary 54 holes, as he carried a 5-shot lead going into Sunday’s ultimate spherical.
Matsuyama operated in cruise management for the primary 11 holes on Sunday, as his birdie on the par-3 eleventh obtained him to 19-under-par and 5 pictures away from Viktor Hovland. The practice started to veer off the observe on the par-4 twelfth, the place PGA Tour Chief Referee Gary Younger approached Matsuyama to debate a attainable guidelines violation from earlier within the spherical. Fortunately, Younger instructed Matsuyama he didn’t commit any infraction on the par-4 seventh. Nonetheless, Matsuyama fastened his pitch mark on the inexperienced, which appeared like he might have improved his lie within the line of play—a two-stroke penalty. However Younger and the competitors committee felt Matsuyama didn’t intend to enhance his line and thus didn’t obtain any infraction.
Instantly after that juncture, Matsuyama three-putted for a bogey—his first dropped shot because the 2nd gap on Saturday. Two holes later, he continued to really feel the nerves, and that dialogue might have continued to impact him. Matsuyama discovered the water on the par-3 14th, and instantly, what appeared like an insurmountable lead had vanished.
“I wasn’t going for it,” Matsuyama mentioned of 14.
“My goal was 20 toes left of the pin. I simply hit a nasty shot.”
His bogey there dropped him again to 17-under total.
Issues then obtained worse for the 2021 Masters Champion. He made a double bogey on the par-4 fifteenth, thus giving up the lead for the primary time since early Saturday.
“15 was not good. I flared my tee shot to the proper. I didn’t need to hit it within the water, so I ended up hitting it over the inexperienced, taking two chips, and ended up with a double bogey,” Matsuyama mentioned.
“However nonetheless, I felt I had three holes left, and so I felt like I nonetheless had an opportunity.”
Certainly, he did, however at this cut-off date, Hovland sat atop the leaderboard, holding a one-shot benefit over Matsuyama with two holes to play. Hovland had simply made birdie at 16. However the younger Norwegian bogeyed the seventeenth and missed a superb birdie look on 18, posting a 4-under 66 to complete at 15-under total—the successful rating of this occasion over the previous two years. Xander Schauffele additionally completed at 15-under, taking pictures a 7-under 63 on Sunday to vault into competition.
That also stored the door open for Matsuyama, regardless of his brutal stretch that noticed him drop 4 pictures in 5 holes. So, he took benefit of the chance.
The person from Japan rolled in a 26-footer for birdie to grab the lead proper again at 17.
“I felt in the present day’s victory slipping away at that time as a result of 17 and 18 are tough holes sufficient, not to mention to birdie them,” Matsuyama.
“However I used to be lucky sufficient to birdie 17. Instantly, I believed, ‘Oh, man, that is going to be a troublesome tee shot at 18. I’ve obtained to maintain it within the fairway.’ I’m grateful I used to be in a position to do it.”
He dropped the mic on 18, throwing a dart from 157 yards out to 6 toes away, resulting in a dramatic but spectacular end. He closed with two straight birdies, which stunned him much more than his collapse. Matsuyama didn’t assume he might rebound like he did, but he got here up clutch when wanted.
It’s going to go down within the historical past books as a Matsuyama victory by two, but it surely definitely didn’t come simply, just like the snafu that occurred earlier within the week in London.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By. You should definitely take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
