Hideki Matsuyama’s two-shot victory in Memphis was anything but anticlimactic, a stark departure from how many envisioned how the FedEx St. Jude Championship would play out.
After making his second birdie of the day at the par-3 11th, Matsuyama walked over to the 12th hole with complete control of the tournament, leading by five at 19-under-par. He then missed the fairway left on this dogleg right par-4, which has water all up the right side. But before reaching the pond that comes into play, PGA Tour chief referee Gary Young chased down Matsuyama to discuss an incident from the 7th hole.
On that 475-yard par-4, Matsuyama missed the green right, and his ball came to rest into a collection area beneath the surface. But his approach landed just off the green, creating a big pitch mark that needed repair. So, Matsuyama, before playing his third shot, walked up to the green and, after fixing the mark, stamped it down with his foot.
Yet, Matsuyama looked awfully close to violating Rule 8.1 from the Rules of Golf, which deals with ‘Player’s Actions That Improve Conditions Affecting the Stroke.’
In this case, Matsuyama appeared to have improved the condition of the course within his line of play, a violation of this rule. Essentially, a player has to play the course as they find it and not improve its condition for their own competitive advantage. Should a player do so, a two-shot penalty is assessed.
“At that point, it was a question of whether or not it was on [Matsuyama’s] line of play,” Young said to the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis after.
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“A couple of the video angles showed that it was close. Close enough to have to have that conversation with him, and unfortunately, we had to do it mid-round with him, which is never comforting, going out and talking to a player. But it could affect his strategy for the rest of the round if he was going to get a two-stroke penalty.”
Matsuyama’s pitch mark was about three feet to the right of his intended line towards the hole—close proximity for an amateur player but not for a PGA Tour pro, let alone a Masters champion.
“I simply had to ask him the question, and he did recall the situation; I asked him, ‘What exactly did you do, and why did you do it?’ And he just said that it was something he normally does if he has a pitch mark, and he felt that it was nowhere near his line of play,” Young added.
“And that was why he stepped it down.”
The rules committee determined not to assess a penalty against Matsuyama because he properly fixed his ball mark on the green, which is completely warranted under Rule 8.1b.
Young confidently agreed with the decision, too. He felt that Matsuyama did not intend to improve his line of play. He also added that everyone, from the committee to the United States Golf Association (USGA)—whom he consulted about this decision—felt assured about the outcome.
“It was really a non-issue,” Matsuyama said to the Golf Channel after by way of an interpreter.
“They just wanted to check and make sure that the rules were kept, which they were. And it really did not affect me the rest of the day. If I was worried that I had done something wrong, that would have rattled me. But it was really a non-issue, so it was fine.”
Regardless, this situation must have affected Matsuyama’s play somewhat.
When Young addressed him, Matsuyama held a five-shot lead. But by the time Matsuyama teed off on the par-5 16th hole, four holes later, he faced a one-shot deficit to Viktor Hovland. Matsuyama three-putted for bogey on 12, found the water on 14, and made a sloppy double-bogey on the 15th, thus ramping up the drama in Memphis.
“Unfortunately, we were watching the rest of his round and seeing what was occurring, and I felt really bad to have possibly affected him, but that’s the difficult part of our job,” Young added.
“We do need to call that to the player’s attention for the rest of their round.”
The PGA Tour’s ruling certainly got the golf world’s attention, too, as it became an intriguing storyline as the round wore on. But it also served as an essential tipping point, with Matsuyama completely collapsing over the ensuing four holes. And yet, like the true champion that he is, Matsuyama righted the ship at the right time, birdied the challenging 17th and 18th holes, and won by two.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.