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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan wins the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, August 18, 2024. /CFP
Hideki Matsuyama could feel the tournament getting away from him, an odd sensation considering he had gone 27 holes without a bogey and held a five-shot lead just an hour earlier.
Even more improbable was how the event ended Sunday.
On the verge of collapsing, Matsuyama rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to regain the lead and then hit two shots as precise as any he had struck all day for one last birdie to win a wild PGA Tour postseason opener at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Birdies at the final two holes – among the toughest on the TPC Southwind course – gave the Japanese star an even-par 70 and a two-shot victory over the USA's Xander Schauffele and Norway's Viktor Hovland, who thought they were only playing for cash and FedEx Cup points until Matsuyama's mini-meltdown.
A three-putt bogey at the 12th hole. A tee shot into the water on the par-3 14th, where Matsuyama did well to escape with bogey. Two chips to reach the 15th green and a double bogey. When he saw the leaderboard at the 16th hole, it confirmed Matsuyama's fears.
"I felt today's victory slipping away at that point, because 17 and 18 are difficult holes enough, let alone to birdie them," Matsuyama said through his interpreter.
He birdied both for his 10th career PGA Tour victory and first title at a FedEx Cup Playoffs event.
The stakes suddenly were high for everyone in the final hour of what had been a sleepy, steamy tournament. It was tight at the top, and just as tense on the bubble to determine the top 50 players who would advance to next week's second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
How tense?
Consider Nick Dunlap, who went from having a chance to win the tournament to needing his best drive of the week just to stay in the top 50 and extend his season. He was as clutch as Matsuyama off the 18th tee, closing with par for a 69 to tie for fifth place and move on.
"It was weird," Dunlap said. "I went from on 17, I tried to attack the pin. I thought I still had a chance to win the golf tournament. Then not getting up-and-down, and then I'm questioning if I'm inside the bubble or not. It was very stressful."