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. Nevertheless it appeared like Matsuyama felt unfazed by the incident for the primary 54 holes, as he carried a 5-shot lead going into Sunday’s last spherical.
Matsuyama operated in cruise management for the primary 11 holes on Sunday, as his birdie on the par-3 eleventh received him to 19-under-par and 5 photographs away from Viktor Hovland. The prepare started to veer off the observe on the par-4 twelfth, the place PGA Tour Chief Referee Gary Younger approached Matsuyama to debate a potential guidelines violation from earlier within the spherical. Fortunately, Younger instructed Matsuyama he didn’t commit any infraction on the par-4 seventh. Nonetheless, Matsuyama mounted 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 for the reason that 2nd gap on Saturday. Two holes later, he continued to really feel the nerves, and that dialogue could have continued to impact him. Matsuyama discovered the water on the par-3 14th, and immediately, what appeared like an insurmountable lead had vanished. His bogey there dropped him again to 17-under general.
Issues then received 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.
Like that, Hovland sat atop the leaderboard, holding a one-shot benefit with two holes to play after his 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 general—the profitable 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 saved the door open for Matsuyama, regardless of his brutal stretch that noticed him drop 4 photographs 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. Then he dropped the mic on 18, throwing a dart from 157 yards out to 6 toes away, resulting in a second straight birdie and his second victory of the yr. Matsuyama received by two, but it surely definitely didn’t come straightforward, identical to the snafu that had occurred earlier within the week in London.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By way of. Make sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.
