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Matsuyama birdies final two holes to win FedEx St. Jude

football19 August 2024 03:08| © Reuters
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Japan's Hideki Matsuyama survived a shaky back nine to shoot even-par 70 on Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and win the opening leg of the PGA Tour's season-ending playoffs at TPC Southwind.

Matsuyama finished at 17-under 263, two strokes better than World No 2 Xander Schauffele (63) and defending FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland of Norway (66). Matsuyama used back-to-back birdies at Nos. 17 and 18 to secure the victory.

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler (66) finished alone in fourth at 14-under 266.

Matsuyama, bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics, carried a five-stroke lead into Sunday – the largest 54-hole advantage of his career – but he faltered down the stretch. After playing his first 11 holes in 2 under, he endured a bogey-par-bogey-double bogey stretch from Nos. 12-15 to allow Schauffele and Hovland to briefly pass him.

But Matsuyama recovered with a clutch 26-foot birdie putt on 17 and a 6-footer at 18, the toughest hole on the course.

"I felt the victory slipping away at that point (after the double bogey on 15) because 17 and 18 are difficult enough," Matsuyama said. "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."

Matsuyama earned the 10th PGA Tour title of his career. It came after a pre-tournament robbery in London that left him without his caddie and coach, who lost their passports in the robbery and had to return to Japan. Matsuyama was forced to use a substitute caddie.

"It was the first time I worked with (caddie Taiga Tabuchi)," Matsuyama 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."

There may not be a course better suited to Matsuyama's game. Three years ago, Matsuyama nearly won at TPC Southwind when the club hosted the WGC-FedEx Invitational. He forced a playoff, but lost to Abraham Ancer. Entering Sunday he had 13 consecutive rounds of par or better at Southwind, a streak he narrowly extended.

"I've tried hard for 10 years (to win a tour playoff event)," Matsuyama said. "And it's a great feeling of satisfaction to finally be able to do it."

Schauffele was at 8 under – nine strokes behind Matsuyama – to begin the round. He made a charge with a bogey-free round and nearly chipped in off the green on 18 to make the final hole tougher for Matsuyama. Schauffele's chip from 75 feet struck the flag.

"It was a head-down day, just hit as many good shots as you can," Schauffele said. "You're so far back (to start)."

Schauffele birdied four of the first six holes and moved into a tie for second at 12 under.

But at the turn, Matsuyama had the five-stroke advantage he began with, needing only a 38-foot birdie putt on No 8 to maintain the huge cushion. Matsuyama parred the other eight holes on the front side and was at 18 under.

Hovland and rookie Nick Dunlap were the closest to Matsuyama at the turn, each at 13 under par. Hovland had back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to move into second place.

When Schauffele and Hovland got within four strokes early on the back nine, Matsuyama calmly sank another birdie putt, a 19-footer on No 11, to go to 19 under. Schauffele, with his sixth birdie through 13 holes, had moved to 14 under before Matsuyama's putt.

Then the struggles began for Matsuyama. After bogeying No 12, he hit the water on the par-3 14th en route to another bogey. He needed four shots to land on the green at the par-4 15th and two-putted from there.

Scheffler began the day in fourth place, seven strokes back. He closed the round with a 41-foot birdie putt to move within two strokes of Matsuyama.

Scheffler said Matsuyama's struggles Sunday may have been a combination of Matsuyama's huge lead entering the round and the challenging back nine.

"You can't really totally play it safe the whole time, if that makes sense," Scheffler said. "It can be a difficult course to close on."

Dunlap (69) and Sam Burns (67) finished in a tie for fifth at 13 under.

The opening tournament of the season-ending playoffs featured the top 70 in the FedEx Cup points standings. The top 50 in the standings advance to the next round, the BMW Championship this week at Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado. Dunlap qualified with a par on 18, completing his move from No 67 in the standings to No 48.

Keegan Bradley was the last man in at No 50, and Tom Kim of South Korea stumbled down the stretch to fall to No 51 and out of the BMW field.

The Tour Championship will be played Labor Day weekend at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Those who finished Sunday ranked in the top 50 not only move on to Colorado but are eligible for each of the eight PGA Tour signature events in 2025.

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