Hideki Matsuyama survived a shaky back nine to post a par 70 Sunday at FedEx St. Jude Championship and win the first round of playoffs on the PGA Tour’s final season at TPC Southwind.
The Japanese finished with -17, two strokes better than world number 2 Xander Schauffele (63) and the defending FedEx Cup champion, the Norwegian Viktor Hovland (66). Matsuyama made back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to secure the win.
The number 1 in the world, Scottie Scheffler (66), finished fourth with -14.
Matsuyama, a bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics, entered Sunday with a five-shot lead, the largest of his career through 54 holes, but faltered down the stretch. After playing his first 11 holes at 2 under par, he collapsed. He suffered a bogey-par-bogey-double bogey stretch from holes 12-15 that allowed Schauffele and Hovland to catch him briefly.
But Matsuyama recovered with a 26-foot birdie putt on the 17th and a 6-foot putt on the 18th, the toughest holes on the course.
Hovland made back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th to reach 16 under par and overtake Matsuyama, who had a five-stroke advantage in the round.
Schauffele was 8 under par, nine shots behind Matsuyama, at the start of the round. He led a bogey-free round and nearly holed out from the green on the 18th to make the final hole difficult for Matsuyama. Schauffele’s chip from 75 feet hit the flag.
Source: La Verdad
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