Hideki Matsuyama secured victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the opening event of the PGA TOUR playoffs, on Sunday, overcoming a difficult back nine to win by two strokes.
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, led the final round by as many as five shots. However, a 4-over-par stretch from holes 12-15 saw him briefly lose his lead. He regained it with a 26-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and followed up with another birdie on the 18th after a well-placed approach shot.
Matsuyama competed without his regular caddie, Shota Hayafuji, and coach, Mikihito Kuromiya. Both were forced to return to Japan after their passports were stolen during a stopover in London following the Paris Olympics. Taiga Tabuchi, who usually caddies for Ryo Hisatsune, stepped in to assist Matsuyama.
The victory marks Matsuyama’s 10th career win on the PGA TOUR.
Xander Schauffele made a strong push with a 63, tying the day’s lowest round, but fell short of overtaking Matsuyama. Viktor Hovland, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, briefly held the lead late in the round but bogeyed the 17th hole.
| RANK | PLAYER | TOTAL | ROUND |
| 1 | Hideki Matsuyama | -17 | 70 |
| T2 | Xander Schauffele | -15 | 63 |
| T2 | Viktor Hovland | -15 | 66 |
| 4 | Scottie Scheffler | -14 | 66 |
| T5 | Sam Burns | -13 | 67 |
| T5 | Nick Dunlap | -13 | 69 |
| T7 | Wyndham Clark | -12 | 64 |
| T7 | Robert MacIntyre | -12 | 65 |
Scottie Scheffler remains at the top of the FedEx Cup standings heading into the BMW Championship, the second leg of the playoffs.
Among those who failed to advance to the next stage of the playoffs were Tom Kim (51), Mackenzie Hughes (52), Justin Rose (55), and Nick Taylor (58), all finishing outside the top 50.
