Hideki Matsuyama maintained his five-shot lead on the eighth and eleventh holes at TPC Southwind, respectively, looking like he was headed for a landslide victory. According to DataGolf, the Olympic bronze winner had 96.5 percent chance of winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship at that point. Then it started to fall apart.
The 32-year-old then shot bogey, par, bogey, double, using two chunked chips and a water ball, to fall back to 15-under-par for the competition. Within thirty minutes of the collapse, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, and Nick Dunlap were involved. The competition, which appeared to be Matsuyama’s from the beginning, was suddenly anybody’s.
Despite everything, Matsuyama managed to come out on top. The 10-time PGA Tour champion won the inaugural FedEx Cup playoff event with a final round score of 70. Two shots behind Matsuyama in second place at 15 under were Schauffele and Hovland, while Scottie Scheffler finished in fourth place at 14 under.
Following his stumble on Sunday, Matsuyama made back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18. He won his second 2024 PGA Tour victory by sinking two more putts, once again relying on the new Scotty Cameron putter he just used this week. With four rounds of play, Matsuyama led the field in strokes gained, gaining an incredible 8.2 shots on the green all week.
It was Matsuyama’s first victory in three years at the Genesis Invitational in February. Matsuyama will now move up five spots in the FedEx Cup rankings to secure the No. 3 spot—behind Scheffler (No. 1) and Schauffele (2)—and move on to the second week of the PGA Tour playoffs.
Birdie-birdie finish to seal the deal!
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 18, 2024
@HidekiOfficial_ earns his second win of the season @FedExChamp 🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/edkX5k5alx
However, Matsuyama’s spectacular collapse will leave him ahead of the BMW Championship with some work to do, including some adjusting to an unfavorable situation.
When Matsuyama arrived at the Memphis tournament site without his entire squad, it was a unique way to begin the week. At a London restaurant, the former Masters champion and his group were robbed while returning from the Olympic golf competition. The passports and visas of Matsuyama’s coach and caddie, as well as his money, were taken in a bag. Matsuyama’s caddie, Shota Hiyato, and swing instructor, Mikhito Kuromiya, were unable to accompany Matsuyama to TPC Southwind because they had to travel at Japan to obtain new passports. Fortunately, Matsuyama’s hotel room contained safe storage for both his passports and his Olympic medal. In Memphis, Matsuyama made use of Taiga Tabuchi, a temporary caddie. Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune’s previous caddy is Tabuchi.
“My job is the same,” Matsuyama said on Thursday. “It’s just play golf. I talk to my coach every night on the phone. I’ve got a great caddie…I’ve forgotten it completely. It’s not even an issue now.”
Even though Matsuyama wrote off the setback at the beginning of the week, his peculiar circumstances might have played a role in his back-nine troubles. Normally, the Japanese pro would have relied on Hiyato’s knowledge and familiarity, but he had a caddie who was still getting to know the ins and outs of his game.
“There’s a learning curve when you have a new caddie and trying to work things out together,” Matsuyama said on Saturday. “But it hasn’t really affected my play. We’re a good team right now.”
Memphis also signaled a positive development for Hovland and the continuation of Schauffele and Scheffler’s solid play. After beginning the competition ranked No. 57 in the FedEx Cup standings, Hovland needed a sudden burst of genius this week to avoid missing the BMW and forfeiting his automatic qualification for the major events of the following year. However, Hovland shot up to No. 16 on the points list and the leaderboard following a decisive round of 66.
Who’s out of the playoffs?
The 2024 season for Jordan Spieth is over. In the 70-man field, the three-time major champion finished two shots ahead of Max Homa, who finished at 11-over-par. He tied for 68th place with Rory McIlroy. Spieth informed the media right away after his round that he required surgery on his damaged left wrist.
“I’ve got to have it operated on ASAP,” Spieth said to reporters in Memphis, including the Associated Press, after posting a 2-over 74. “And then I’ll go through the process of what I’m supposed to do from there.”
The injury to Spieth’s wrist occurred prior to the 2023 PGA Championship. Since the problem started, he has tried non-surgical treatments, but the situation has not gotten better. Spieth disclosed to the media that his wrist tendon is held in place by a torn sheath.
Following the St. Jude, Tom Kim’s season will also conclude. With a bogey and two consecutive double bogeys to end his Sunday round in Memphis, the 22-year-old breakout sensation fell out of the top 50 and precipitously down the FedEx Cup rankings. Because of the expensive compounding errors, Kim will not be excused from the eight PGA Tour flagship tournaments in 2025. He placed No. 51 in the standings at the end of the competition.
“This season has just been — it’s just been like this,” Kim said. “I’ve played really good golf, and then had some tough finishes. I feel like 2024 has really kicked me in the butt. But I’ve gotten so much better. I’ve fought really hard just to get myself in this situation. I was 90-something before we went on this run, and it looks like I’m going to miss by one. But it is what it is.”
(Photo: Mike Mulholland / Getty Images)
