Hideki Matsuyama survived a shaky back nine to shoot a par-0 70 Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and win the first stage of the PGA Tour’s season-ending playoffs at TPC Southwind.
The Japanese golfer held on to the final stretch to finish at 17 under par thanks to consecutive birdies on holes 17 and 18.
The former Masters champion finished two strokes better than world No. 2 Xander Schauffele and defending FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland to claim the $3.6 million prize at the Tour’s $20 million tournament in Memphis.
The win was all the more impressive given the turbulent week Matsuyama had to endure.
Earlier this week it was revealed that Matsuyama, fresh from winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, was assaulted in London during a stopover.
Hideki Matsuyama survived a shaky second hole to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Matsuyama, his caddie Shota Hayafuji and coach Mikihito Kuromiya were enjoying dinner at a restaurant in the English capital before flying to the United States for the tournament when they realised they had been robbed.
While Matsuyama was able to arrive in Memphis with her passport and Olympic medal intact, the same could not be said for Hayafuji and Kuromiya.
The pair were forced to return to Japan after their passports were taken away during the incident, leaving Matsuyama to battle it out against TPC Southwind with substitute Taiga Tabuchi.
With Tabuchi at his side, Matsuyama entered Sunday with a five-shot lead (the largest 54-hole advantage of his career), but faltered down the stretch.
After playing his first 11 holes at 2 under, he fell apart. He endured a bogey-par-bogey-double bogey stretch between holes 12 and 15 that allowed Schauffele and Hovland to briefly overtake him.
But Matsuyama rallied with a 26-foot birdie putt on the 17th and a 6-footer on the 18th, the toughest hole on the course.
Hovland made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 to reach 16 under par and overtake Matsuyama, who held a five-shot lead at the end.
Matsuyama, seen with Tommy Fleetwood (left) and Scottie Scheffler (center), won a bronze medal in Paris
The Japanese player was forced to use Taiga Tabuchi as a substitute caddie after the robbery
Schauffele was 8 under par, nine strokes behind Matsuyama, at the start of the round. He attacked with a bogey-free round and nearly chipped in from the green on the 18th, making the final hole more difficult for Matsuyama. Schauffele’s chip from 75 feet hit the flag.
“It was a day of concentration, just hitting as many good shots as you can,” Schauffele said. “You’re way behind.”
Matsuyama earned his tenth career PGA Tour title.
Schauffele quickly moved up the leaderboard and kept up the pressure. Beginning the round nine shots behind, Schauffele birdied four of the first six holes and moved into a tie for second at 12 under.
At the turn, Matsuyama held the five-shot lead he started with, and needed only a 38-foot birdie putt on the eighth hole to maintain the massive advantage. Matsuyama made par on the other eight holes on the front side and was 18 under.
Hovland and rookie Nick Dunlap were closest to Matsuyama on the turn, each at 13 under. Hovland made back-to-back birdies on holes 8 and 9 to move into second place.
As Schauffele and Hovland closed to within four shots early on the back nine, Matsuyama calmly holed another birdie putt, a 19-footer on the 11th hole, to move to 19 under. Schauffele, with his sixth birdie in 13 holes, had been 14 under before Matsuyama’s putt.
Matsuyama finished two strokes ahead of Viktor Hovland (pictured) and Xander Schauffele.
Schauffele was 8 under par – nine strokes behind Matsuyama – to start the final round.
Then the struggles began for Matsuyama.
The inaugural season-ending playoff tournament featured the top 70 in the FedEx Cup points standings. The top 50 in the standings advance to the next round, the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado. Dunlap qualified with a par on the 18th, completing his climb from No. 67 in the standings to No. 48.
The Tour Championship will be played Labor Day weekend at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Those who finished in the top 50 on Sunday not only advance to Colorado but are also eligible for each of the eight signature PGA Tour events in 2025.
