Hideki Matsuyama survives wobble to clinch golf’s St Jude Championship

WASHINGTON – Hideki Matsuyama survived a back-nine near-collapse to recover and win the PGA Tour’s St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis on Aug 18.

The 32-year-old from Japan began the day with a five-shot lead and was two under for his round until he got into trouble with bogeys on the 12th and 14th and then a double bogey on the par-four 15th.

That allowed world No. 2 Xander Schauffele, who had started the day nine shots off the lead, and Norway’s defending FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland to join him in a three-way share of the lead on 15 under.

But with a possible three-way play-off or even worse looming for Matsuyama, he rediscovered his touch in the nick of time.

He sank a 26-foot birdie putt on the par-four 17th to regain the lead and, with his rivals already in the clubhouse, needed just a par on the 18th to clinch the first of the three events that make up the FedExCup play-offs.

There was no sign of nerves, however, as he attacked the par-four final hole. He birdied it to finish on level-par 70 and 17 under, with Schauffele (63) and Hovland (66) joint second.

“After the 14th hole, I was still two up, but I knew Viktor and Xander were playing 15, 16 ahead of me,” said Matsuyama.

“I figured they would both get to 16 under. So when I was playing the 16th hole and looked at the scoreboard, sure enough, they were both at 16 under and I was a stroke back.

“I felt today’s victory slipping away at that point because 17 and 18 are difficult holes enough, let alone to birdie them. But I was fortunate enough to birdie 17.

“Immediately I thought, “Oh, man, this is going to be a tough tee shot at 18. I’ve got to keep it in the fairway.’ I’m grateful I was able to do it.”

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (66) finished alone in fourth at 14-under 266, while fellow Americans Nick Dunlap (69) and Sam Burns (67) ended joint-fifth at 13 under.

Scheffler said Matsuyama’s final-round struggles may have been a combination of the Japanese golfer’s huge lead at the start and the challenging back nine.

“You can’t really totally play it safe the whole time, if that makes sense,” he said. “It can be a difficult course to close on.”

The win was the 10th on the PGA Tour for Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters winner, and his second this season following the Genesis Invitational in California in February.

He had to play with a stand-in caddie after his regular bag carrier had his passport stolen in London in a theft which also saw the golfer’s wallet taken.

“It was the first time I worked with (caddie Taiga Tabuchi),” he said. “I hadn’t spoken to him very much before this week.

“On the course, you have a routine, but with a new caddie that routine changes. We were working through that all week. But he was a great help to me. Helped me read a lot of putts.”

Schauffele, who triumphed in the PGA Championship and the Open in 2024, was bogey free for his seven-under round.

“It was a head-down day, just hit as many good shots as you can,” he said. “You’re so far back (to start).”

Hovland got himself into real contention with birdies on the 15th and 16th but then bogeyed the 17th.

The play-off field has been cut to 50 for this week’s BMW Championship at Castle Rock, Colorado. It will then be trimmed to 30 for the final event, the Tour Championship in Atlanta starting on Aug 29.

Dunlap qualified with a par on the 18th, completing his move from No. 67 in the standings to No. 48.

Keegan Bradley was the last man in at No. 50 despite ending tied-59th, and Tom Kim (tied-50th) of South Korea stumbled to fall to No. 51 and out of the BMW field.

The top five are Scheffler, Schauffele, Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa and Rory McIlroy respectively. AFP, REUTERS