How a putter change powered Hideki Matsuyama to his 10th PGA Tour title
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On the PGA TOUR, Hideki Matsuyama does not hesitate to test several putters in a short period of time.
He usually brings five or six to each event.
It was the same with FedEx St. Jude Championship, but chose to use a different strategy this time around and it proved crucial on Sunday in helping him to his 10th TOUR victory.
Matsuyama, who already won this season at The Genesis Invitational, led by five strokes after three rounds of St. Jude, which combines exceptional bowling with a hit machine.
But Matsuyama rode a new putter to victory on a waterlogged Sunday back nine at TPC Southwind.
“Coming into Memphis, I felt like I needed a change of pace, kind of a refresher with my putter,” Matsuyama said after winning the opening leg of the FedExCup Playoffs.
“I thought about the putters I had, and I felt because I knew the course, I knew the shape of the greens, I thought this putter might work, and it did. I did good, and I won.”
Matsuyama started Sunday’s round with seven straight pars.
On the 3rd eighth, he sank a 38-foot birdie putt, and on the 11th, he made another 19-footer.
But down the stretch he blew his lead with bogeys on the 12th and 14th holes and a double bogey on the 15th.
Matsuyama needed something to get back on track and he got it, rolling a 26-footer and pumping his fist as the ball landed in the cup.
On the challenging 18th, he completed the victory with another birdie, making the second-closest putt of the day on the formidable finishing hole.
In stark contrast to his season-high of 133rd in Strokes Gained: Putting, Matsuyama found himself nearly eight strokes off the green at Memphis, finishing at 17-under overall, two shots ahead of a resurgent Viktor Hovland and the ever-present Xander Schauffele.
“For some reason when I was at home in Orlando coming to this tournament, I started hearing that this striker might work on these greens,” said Matsuyama after the final round.
The winning putter is the Scotty Cameron Craftsman Squareback Tour Prototype.
“I’ve had a putter for a while, and I thought, this might be a good week to start that putter,” Matsuyama said.
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