Tag: Hideki Matsuyama

Hideki Matsuyama withdraws from the 2024 BMW Championship

Matsuyama has dealt with reoccurring back and neck injuries for the past few seasons.

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the 2024 BMW Championship prior to the start of the second round citing a lower back injury.

“I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the BMW Championship after experiencing lower back discomfort while warming up this morning, which made it impossible to play,” Matsuyama said in a statement provided to the media. “Thank you to BMW and the Western Golf Association for a great experience here at Castle Pines.”

The 32-year-old Japanese star shot 5-under 67 in the first round at Castle Pines Golf Club. He had to wait three hours and 10 minutes during a suspension of play to hit his second shot at 18 on Thursday. He stuck it to two feet but missed the putt to finish the day one stroke off the lead.

Matsuyama won the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday and entered the week at No. 3 in the season-long standings.

Matsuyama also withdrew from the BMW Championship last year while warming up for the second round, and has dealt with reoccurring back and neck injuries for the past few seasons.

Why did a PGA Tour referee stop FedEx St. Jude Championship winner Hideki Matsuyama about possible rules violation?

Did Matsuyama violate Rule 8-1 during the final round?

Did Hideki Matsuyama violate Rule 8-1 during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday? The PGA Tour determined that a violation wasn’t committed by the eventual champion, but the moment is worth closer investigating.

On the 12th hole, PGA Tour Chief Rules Referee Gary Young spoke to  Matsuyama.

Rule 8-1 from the Rules of Golf addresses ‘Players Actions That Improve Conditions Affecting the Stroke,’ and in this particular circumstance there was some concern whether Matsuyama had improved his line by tapping down his pitch mark after his second shot at the seventh hole at TPC Southwind had rolled back into a collection area. Matsuyama clearly walked up to the green and tapped down his pitch mark before playing his third shot on to the green.

“Rule 8-1 is very specific about what a player can do as it pertains to the line of play,” Young explained in a post-round interview with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “It came to our attention that Hideki may have done something on his line of play.”

Young approached the Japanese star and addressed the situation with Matsuyama and his interpreter, Robert Turner. Matsuyama had just made a birdie to reach 19 under and owned a seemingly commanding five-stroke lead.

“The video showed that Hideki walked forward and stepped down with irregularity at a what turned out to be a pitch mark. At that point, it was a question of whether it was on his line of play. A couple of video angles showed that it was close, close enough to have to have that conversation with him and unfortunately we had to have that conversation mid-round with him, which is never comforting when you have to go out and talk with that player,” Young said. “But it could affect his strategy playing for the rest of the round if he is going to get a two-stroke penalty. So, I simply had to ask him the question, Hideki, on that hole, and he did recall the situation that he had walked forward. I asked him what exactly did he do and why did he do it, he just said it was something that he normally does when he has a pitch mark and he felt it was nowhere near his line of play and that was why he stepped it down.

“Following the conversation with him, I felt very comfortable that he felt it was well off his line of play and then we did get supporting video evidence from a different camera angle which clearly showed where he plays his shot and where the pitch mark was. It was a good 3 feet away. Now, some people may say, well, that’s pretty close. For that short of a shot and one of the best players in the world that is a pretty tight area you’re talking about, so, the committee felt very, very comfortable with the decision.”

Lewis pressed Young if there was any additional discussion thereafter whether a rules violation had occurred and Young answered, “In my mind, when we had that conversation, I felt a comfort level that he was well off his line of play.”

Lewis also asked why it took several holes for Matsuyama to be informed of the potential rules violation. “It took some time for the message to come to me that this potential violation had occurred. Then it took time to look for any video evidence. Next it was circulated to all of the members of the rules committee and Young also consulted with the USGA to make sure they had their support,” he said. “It felt really bad to possibly have affected him but that’s the rough part of our job.”

Matsuyama’s round went off the rails as he played Nos. 12-16 in 4 over and lost the lead temporarily to Viktor Hovland before righting the ship and making birdies on the final two holes to win by two strokes over Hovland and Xander Schauffele.

“It was really a non-issue,” Matsuyama said after the round. “They just wanted to check and make sure that the rules were kept, which they were. And it really did not affect me the rest of the day. If I was worried that I had done something wrong, that would have rattled me. But it was really a non-issue, so it was fine.”

Winner’s Bag: Hideki Matsuyama, FedEx St. Jude Championship

Matsuyama has won for a second time in 2024 and for the 10th time in his PGA Tour career.

A complete list of the golf equipment Hideki Matsuyama used to win the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Championship:

DRIVER: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX shaft

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s driver” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/DKEJQb”]

FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX shaft, Cobra King RadSpeed Tour (17.5 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10 TX shaft

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s fairway wood” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/QyqWJ6″]

IRONS: Srixon Z-Forged II (4-9), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s irons” link=”https://go.skimresources.com?id=77560X1658191&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fus.dunlopsports.com%2Fsrixon%2Fclubs%2Firons%2Fz-forged-ii-irons%2Fz-forged-ii-irons%2FMZFIII.html”]

WEDGES: Cleveland RTX 4 Forged prototype (48, 52, 56, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts

PUTTER: Scotty Cameron Handcrafted Squareback Bullet Bottom prototype

BALL: Srixon Z-Star XV

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/eKobqQ”]

GRIPS: Iomic X

Hideki Matsuyama recovers from blowing big lead to win FedEx St. Jude Championship

“I knew I still had two holes left, and that was just what I was thinking: Two more holes. I’ve got to make one birdie.”

Hideki Matsuyama blew a big lead but he recovered to birdie the final two holes and edge Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele by two strokes and win the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

“No lead is safe and I knew someone was going to make a run,” said Matsuyama of falling a stroke back. “I felt today’s victory slipping away…I knew I had to birdie and somehow I was able to get it on the green and (make the putt). It made 18 a lot easier to play.”

The 32-year-old Japanese star had his wallet stolen earlier in the week and didn’t have his coach or caddie, who had their passports lifted in the theft, at his disposal but it didn’t bother his game.

“Maybe because of that, I won this week,” he mused.

Or it may have been because he changed putters and had his best putting week of the season, closing in even-par 70 at TPC Southwind in Memphis on Sunday and a 72-hole total of 17-under 263. Matsuyama typically travels with as many as six different putters and before the tournament began he tinkered with them on the practice green.

“I felt like I needed a change of pace, kind of a refresh with my putter,” he explained.

Matsuyama, who won the bronze medal two weeks ago, built a five-stroke lead, the largest 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour this season, but still took three putters to the practice green on Sunday morning. He elected to stick with the Scotty Cameron putter that had treated him so well since he stuck it in the bag on Thursday.

“I’ve had the putter for a while, and I thought, well, it might be a good week to debut that putter,” said Matsuyama, who gained 8.2 strokes on the greens against the field.

Wearing a splash of his Sunday yellow and white, he opened with seven straight pars before he buried a 39-foot birdie putt at No. 8 and a 19-foot birdie putt at No. 11. On another typically hot and humid day, it looked as if Matsuyama wouldn’t need to break a sweat walking the difficult closing stretch in Memphis at a course where he lost in a playoff three years ago. Matsuyama played his first 65 holes in 19 under and then the next five in 4 over, finding the water off the tee at the par-3 14th for a bogey and a double bogey at the 15th that cost him the lead to Hovland.

“I knew I still had two holes left, and that was just what I was thinking: Two more holes. I’ve got to make one birdie,” Matsuyama said.

Matsuyama then sank a 26-foot uphill birdie putt at 17 to regain the lead and hit a beauty at 18 to 6 feet to seal his second win of the season, 10th career Tour title and improve to third in the FedEx Cup.

Schauffele trailed Matsuyama by nine strokes to start the day but birdied four of the first six holes and shot a bogey-free 7-under 63.

“It was a head-down day,” said Schauffele, who lipped out a birdie chip at 18. “You’re so far back.”

It’s been a disappointing year for Hovland, who had recorded just one top-10 finish this season. He needed to jump into the top 50 this week to advance to the BMW Championship otherwise he would’ve been the first player not to defend his title at the BMW. He made a bogey at 17 and missed a 9-foot birdie putt in his bid to win the third straight FedEx Cup playoff event dating to last year. Still, he vaulted to No. 16 in the FedEx Cup season-long standing  and will have a chance to defend his title at the Tour Championship in two weeks.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who remains in the lead in the FedEx Cup, drained a 41-foot birdie putt at 18 to shoot 66 and finish fourth.

“I put up a good fight this week,”Scheffler said. “I tried to make my way up the leaderboard, but I just wasn’t able to do it.”

The top 50 finishers in the FedEx Cup season-long points race advanced to the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado. Eric Cole and Nick Dunlap joined Hovland as the three players who moved into the top 50 while Tom Kim, Mackenzie Hughes and Jake Knapp were the three players to drop out. Of the 50 players who advanced to the BMW Championship, 19 were not in the top 50 of the final 2023 FedEx Cup standings (38 percent).

After the Olympics, Matsuyama stopped in London for one day and enjoyed a celebratory meal with his caddie Shota Hayato, and coach, Mikihito Kuromiya. Matsuyama had already paid the bill when a robber swiped his wallet and also nabbed the passports and visas of his caddie. The members of Matsuyama’s team had no choice but to return to Japan and request expedited travel documents instead of going to Memphis for the first leg of the playoffs.

“Luckily I only lost my wallet,” said Matsuyama, who talked to his coach every day and used the regular caddie of fellow Japanese tour pro Ryo Hisatsune. “I’ve forgotten it completely. It’s not even an issue now.”

Nothing would stop Matsuyama from finally winning a FedEx Cup playoff event.

“I’ve tried hard for 10 years, and it’s a great feeling of satisfaction to finally be able to have done it,” he said.

Hideki Matsuyama robbed in London airport, will play FedEx St. Jude Championship without regular caddie and coach

“I’m going to play golf as if I went back to the way I was before I had a coach.”

Hideki Matsuyama won a bronze medal at the Olympics in Paris but lost his wallet during a layover in London.

Matsuyama told Japanese reporters, including those at Golf Digest Japan, that someone swiped his wallet and also nabbed the passport and visas of his caddie, Shota Hayato, and coach, Mikihito Kuromiya. They had no choice but to return to Japan and request expedited travel documents instead of going to Memphis for the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The top 50 in the season-long points race qualify for the second leg, the BMW Championship at Castle Pines in Denver.

“There’s a chance they’ll make it [to Colorado], but we have to go into it thinking it’s close to zero,” Matsuyama told Golf Digest Japan.

According to the report, the earliest they could make it to the U.S. would be just ahead of the Tour Championship in two weeks.

“I’m going to play golf as if I went back to the way I was before I had a coach,” Matsuyama told the Japanese press in Memphis. “I feel like all the responsibility is on me.”

He has hired Taiga Tabuchi, who caddies for fellow Japanese tour pro Ryo Hisatsune, to fill in as a caddie in the absence of Hayato, who famously bowed on the 18th green after his boss won the Masters in 2021.

“I’m glad he accepted,” said Matsuyama of Tabuchi, whose regular boss finished a career-best T-3 last week but fell short of the top 70 and a berth in the playoffs. “He’s worked with Hisatsune this year, so I think he knows the ropes, and he can speak English, so I can rely on him.”

Matsuyama, who won the Genesis Invitational in February, enters the FedEx Cup playoffs in eighth place. He did note that the bronze medal remained safely in his possession.

Hideki Matsuyama withdraws from 2024 Wells Fargo Championship with injury

Matsuyama pulled out of the tournament before his first round tee time on Thursday.

Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the PGA Tour’s 2024 Wells Fargo Championship just minutes before his weather-delayed first-round tee time on Thursday afternoon.

The 32-year-old from Japan cited a back injury as the reason for his withdrawal, which brings the signature event field down to 68 players after Ludvig Aberg withdrew earlier in the week.

Matsuyama hasn’t missed a cut in 10 starts on Tour this season and picked up his first win in two years back in February at the Genesis Invitational, the ninth victory of his career on Tour. In five previous Wells Fargo starts Matsuyama hadn’t missed the cut and bagged two top-25 finishes.

The injury and withdrawal have put Matsuyama’s status for next week’s 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, in question.

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Why Hideki Matsuyama likes his chances on a firm, fast Augusta National at the 2024 Masters

After rough weather the last two years, a dry forecast could bode well for the 2021 Masters champion.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — No stranger to Augusta National, Hideki Matsuyama will make his 13th start at the 2024 Masters this week with the seventh best odds to win, tied with Joaquin Niemann and behind Xander Schauffele, two players who have never won a major, let alone the Masters.

Have the oddsmakers been paying attention to the 2021 Masters champion this season? Matsuyama has yet to miss a cut this season and is riding a wave of momentum down Magnolia Lane that hasn’t died out since his victory in February at the Genesis Invitational. After earning his ninth win on the PGA Tour, the 32-year-old has logged finishes of T-12 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T-6 at the Players Championship and T-7 at last week’s Valero Texas Open.

“You always like to peak for this week. Up until 2021 I always took the week off before the Masters, but now since then I’ve played the week before,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter of his change in preparation for the first men’s major championship of the season. “It’s been able to get me into tournament shape. But then, on other hand, too, you get tired from playing two in a row. So I’m still searching for that perfect preparation method.”

2024 Masters Tournament
Hideki Matsuyama hits out of a bunker at the practice facility during a practice round for the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Network)

He may still be searching for perfection, but he certainly isn’t far off. A back-to-back Asia-Pacific Amateur champion in 2010 and 2011, Matsuyama was the low amateur at the 2011 Masters and has missed the cut just once back in 2014. His worst made-cut performance of T-54 came all the way back in 2014, and he boasts an average finish of 16th.

“Winning the Asian Amateur twice and being invited to the Masters tournament was really life-changing. I always wanted to play here in the Masters. I watched it on TV a lot,” said Matsuyama. “I’m grateful to the members of Augusta National Golf Club for what they have done, not only for me, but for golf in Asia. It’s been quite rewarding. Then to be able to win this tournament was a thrill beyond thrills.”

“Since coming here 13 years ago as a rookie, it was really a long learning process on playing the course and how the course should be played here at Augusta National,” he added. “It’s been a wonderful experience, and I’ve learned a lot. Luckily, I was able to win and now preparing to hopefully get back into the winner’s circle here and another Green Jacket.”

Players have faced cold, soggy conditions in the last two Masters, but this year – knock on wood – the weather forecast looks relatively clean for the week aside from some showers on Thursday. That means a firm and fast Augusta National could return, which plays in Matsuyama’s favor.

“If the course is playing hard and fast, it’s more difficult. Winning score is usually lower – not lower, but higher. When it’s wet, I mean, it can go to 20-under,” he explained. “I like both, but if it goes to 20-under, my chances are – get slimmer. So, I would like a more, tougher setup where it plays dryer, fast and hard. I think I have a better chance when it’s playing that way.”

As if he needed any more help.

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Watch: Hideki Matsuyama nearly holes out for eagle while standing in lake at Bay Hill

One of the greatest golf shots you’ll ever see.

To say Hideki Matsuyama has been on a hot streak may be an understatement.

The winner of the Genesis Invitational three weeks ago, Matsuyama shot 5 under in the opening round at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. He began his second round in afternoon on Friday, but he provided excitement quickly.

On the third hole, a dogleg left par 4 that curves around water, his tee shot ended up nearly going in the drink. After assessing what he could do, Matsuyama kept his shoes on, stepped into the water and then hit his second shot that was nearly level with his hips.

And he almost made it for eagle.

API: Photos

One of the greatest golf shots you’ll ever see, and he paid it off with the birdie.

Could Matsuyama win back-to-back starts? With shots like he pulled off Friday, it’s not impossible to think so.

Winner’s Bag: Hideki Matsuyama, 2024 Genesis Invitational

A complete list of the golf equipment Matsuyama used to earn his ninth PGA Tour win.

A complete list of the golf equipment Hideki Matsuyama used to win the PGA Tour’s 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club:

DRIVER: Srixon ZX5 LS Mk II (9.5 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX shaft

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s driver” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/4PDoXo”]

FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees). with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX shaft, Cobra Radspeed Tour (17.5 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10 TX shaft

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s fairway wood” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/m53ZY1″]

IRONS: Srixon Z Forged II (4-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s irons” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/rQ3OY3″]

WEDGES: Cleveland RTX4 Forged prototype (52, 56, 60 degrees), with  True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s wedges” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/anm27M”]

PUTTER: Scotty Cameron Newport GSS Tour prototype

BALL: Srixon Z-Star XV

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Hideki Matsuyama’s golf ball” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/R5jm7b”]

Grips: Iomic X

Jordan Spieth congratulates Hideki Matsuyama on 2024 Genesis Invitational win with disqualification joke

“Great playing Hideki! Just make sure you double check that scorecard…”

Self-deprecating humor is often the best kind of humor.

Exhibit A: Jordan Spieth on Sunday.

The 13-time winner on the PGA Tour loves Riviera Country Club and the Genesis Invitational. It’s one of his favorite PGA Tour stops on the schedule. Spieth regrettably signed for an incorrect scorecard after the second round, which led to his disqualification from the event and cut his week short.

With some free time on his hands, Spieth was watching as Hideki Matsuyama shot a bogey-free 9-under 62 to win the Genesis at 17 under and had some helpful (and humorous) advice.

If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

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