Hideki Matsuyama wins opening leg of PGA Tour playoffs

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Hideki Matsuyama might really feel the match getting away from him, an odd sensation contemplating he had gone 27 holes with out a bogey and had a five-shot lead simply an hour earlier.

Much more unbelievable was the way it ended Sunday.

On the verge of a collapse, Matsuyama rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the seventeenth gap to regain the lead after which hit two pictures as exact as any he hit all day for one final birdie to win a wild PGA Tour postseason opener on the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Birdies on the ultimate two holes — among the many hardest on the TPC Southwind — gave the Japanese star an even-par 70 and a two-shot victory over Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland, who thought they have been enjoying for money and FedEx Cup factors till Matsuyama’s mini-meltdown.

A 3-putt bogey on the twelfth. A tee shot into the water on the par-3 14th, the place Matsuyama did effectively to flee with bogey. Two chips to succeed in the fifteenth inexperienced and a double bogey. When he noticed a leaderboard on the sixteenth gap, it confirmed what Matsuyama feared.

“I felt at the moment’s victory slipping away at that time as a result of 17 and 18 are troublesome holes sufficient, not to mention to birdie them,” Matsuyama mentioned via his interpreter.

He birdied them each for his tenth profession PGA Tour victory and first FedEx Cup playoff title.

The stakes abruptly have been excessive for everybody within the ultimate hour of what had been a sleepy, steamy match. It was tight on the prime, and simply as tense on the bubble to find out the highest 50 gamers within the FedEx Cup who superior to subsequent week.

How tense?

Take into account Nick Dunlap, who went from an opportunity to win the match to needing his finest drive of the week simply to remain within the prime 50 and prolong his season. He was as clutch as Matsuyama off the 18th tee, closing with a par for a 69 to tie for fifth and transfer on.

“It was bizarre,” Dunlap mentioned. “I went from on 17, I attempted to assault the pin. I assumed I nonetheless had an opportunity to win the golf match. Then not getting up and down, after which I am questioning if I am contained in the bubble or not. It was very hectic.”

Tom Kim appeared sure to complete within the prime 50 till a 6-6-6 end on his card ended his season.

Schauffele began 9 pictures behind and waited to see if he would get in a playoff. Hovland had a one-shot lead with two holes to play. Scottie Scheffler, who shot 66 and completed fourth, was nonetheless within the sport on the seventeenth gap.

Finally, it got here all the way down to Matsuyama.

The collapse was gorgeous. So was the response.

“He simply by no means appeared to let it get to him. It was actually spectacular,” mentioned Dunlap, who performed within the ultimate group with Matsuyama. “That is why he is obtained a inexperienced jacket and a ton of different issues. It was positively cool for me to observe. He deserves it. He was spectacular all day.”

Hovland, the defending FedEx Cup champion, got here into the postseason at No. 57 with out a assure he would be capable of defend his title within the BMW Championship subsequent week. After which he had an opportunity to win, taking the lead together with his birdie on the sixteenth. He gave it again by failing to save lots of par from a bunker on the seventeenth after which missed a 9-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 66.

He wound up a runner-up with Schauffele, who performed bogey-free for a 63. Hovland moved to No. 16, not solely stepping into subsequent week however locking up a spot within the Tour Championship.

But it surely wasn’t over simply but. The ultimate group on the ultimate gap — the toughest of the day — got here all the way down to this: Matsuyama wanted par to win, Dunlap wanted par to maneuver from No. 67 into the highest 50. A bogey would have bumped the previous U.S. Novice champion out of the highest 50.

Each break up the center of the golf green. Dunlap hit his strategy to only outdoors 20 toes, whereas Matsuyama hit 8-iron on the flag, with water to the left. It settled just below 6 toes away.

Matsuyama, who completed at 17-under 263, received for the second time this 12 months. He shot 62 within the ultimate spherical to win the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. Coming off a bronze medal on the Olympics, his efficiency — aside from that terrible four-hole stretch — was golden.

He received $3.6 million and moved from No. 8 to No. 3 within the FedEx Cup.

It was fairly per week for the Japanese star, who needed to discover a fill-in caddie and will work together with his coach solely over the telephone. All of them have been out to dinner in London on their approach house from the Paris Olympics when somebody stole their bag once they weren’t wanting.

The thief obtained Matsuyama’s pockets and the passports of his caddie and coach. They needed to return to Japan and work on getting expedited replacements. Matsuyama pressed on prefer it was one other work week and got here up together with his first postseason victory.

Hovland, Dunlap and Eric Cole (No. 54) moved into the highest 50. Cole did it in type with a 63, regardless of a bogey on the closing gap. Falling out of the highest 50 have been Kim (No. 43), Mackenzie Hughes (No. 48) and Jake Knapp (No. 50).

Kim was poised to advance till it took him two pictures to get out of a greenside bunker on the par-5 sixteenth (bogey), two chips to get to the inexperienced on the seventeenth (double bogey) and a tee shot into the water on the 18th (double bogey).

“This season has simply been … it is simply been like this,” Kim mentioned. “I’ve performed actually good golf, after which had some robust finishes. I really feel like 2024 has actually kicked me within the butt.”