Hideki Matsuyama surges to five-stroke lead at St Jude Championship

MEMPHIS – Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama was praised by his rivals as he pulled away from them and took a five-stroke lead into the final round of the St Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee.

The former Masters champion shot a six-under 64 on Aug 17 during a steady third round at TPC Southwind marred by an early bogey, but bolstered by five birdies and an eagle.

The Japanese, who posted his 13th straight round of par or better at Southwind, is at 17-under 193.

PGA Tour rookie Nick Dunlap (66) was in second at 12 under, followed by Viktor Hovland (66) of Norway at 11 under and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (69) and Sam Burns (70) tied for fourth at 10 under.

“Hideki is obviously playing some fantastic golf,” Scheffler said.

“I’ll do my best to put a little pressure on him and see what happens... but if he goes out and shoots another five or six under, he’s going to be a pretty tough guy to catch.”

Matsuyama and Denny McCarthy entered the third round atop the leaderboard at 11-under 129, one shot better than Burns. While McCarthy faded in the heat and humidity with a two-over 72, Matsuyama was unaffected during a tournament in which he would be forgiven for lacking focus.

Shortly before arriving in Memphis, the player, his caddie and his swing coach were victims of theft while dining at a restaurant in London following the Paris Olympics, where he won bronze.

Matsuyama’s caddie and coach were forced to return to Japan after having their passports stolen during the incident. He lost his wallet and has since been working in Memphis with Taiga Tabuchi, the regular caddie for Ryo Hisatsune.

“There’s a learning curve when you have a new caddie and (you’re) trying to work things out together,” Matsuyama said. “But it really hasn’t affected my play. We’re a good team right now.”

McCarthy, who has not won in seven seasons on the tour, struggled from the outset. He shot three-over par on the front nine and was six strokes behind Matsuyama at the turn.

He double-bogeyed the 11th to drop further out of contention. He finished strong with birdies on three of his final seven holes but enters the final round tied for sixth and eight shots back of Matsuyama.

Dunlap and Hovland remain in contention after their 66s, but if Matsuyama continues at his pace, they believe that he will be difficult to reel in.

“It’s super impressive stuff,” Hovland said of Matsuyama’s play. “It was not easy out there today.”

Dunlap, 20, a recent University of Alabama golfer who turned pro earlier in 2024, is the closest to catching Matsuyama. Regardless of the outcome, he is enjoying a magical rookie run.

“I should be playing in the US (Amateur) this week and I just got done playing a round with Scottie,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”

The opening tournament of the season-ending play-offs features the top 70 in the FedExCup points standings.

The top 50 in the standings advance to the next round, the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado. Following that, the Tour Championship finale will be played at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. REUTERS, AFP