MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Hideki Matsuyama survived a back nine near-collapse to recover and win the PGA Tour’s FedEx Championship in Memphis.
The start of the PGA Tour´s postseason had tense moments at the top of the leaderboard and on the bubble to determine the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup who advanced.
Staked to a five-shot lead at the start of the day; Matsuyama of Japan went 27 straight holes without a bogey and led by five when he rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the 11th.
And then it all came undone – a three-putt bogey on the 12th, a tee shot into the water on the par-3 14th and a scramble for bogey, two chips to reach the 15th green for a double bogey.
Just like that, he was one shot behind hard-charging Viktor Hovland, the defending FedEx Cup champion.
Hovland, however, took bogey from the bunker on the 17th hole and missed a 9-foot birdie chance on the 18th for a 66. He tied for second with Xander Schauffele, who played bogey-free in the stifling heat for a 63.
He sank a 26-foot birdie putt on the par-four 17th to regain the lead and, with his rivals already in the clubhouse, needed just a par on the 18th to clinch the first of the three events that make up the FedExCup play-offs.
There was no sign of nerves, however, as he attacked the par-four final hole, making birdie to end on 17-under with Schauffele and Hovland tied second.
“After the 14th hole, I was still two up, but I knew Viktor and Xander were playing 15, 16 ahead of me. I figured they would both get to 16-under. So when I was playing the 16th hole and looked at the scoreboard, sure enough, they were both at 16-under and I was a stroke back,” said Matsuyama according to AP.
Brooks Koepka, meanwhile, picked up his second LIV Golf League victory of the year when he shot 7-under 63 at The Greenbrier and beat Jon Rahm with a par on the first playoff hole.
Rahm, who lost a four-shot lead on the back nine at the Olympics two weeks ago, started the third and final round with a two-shot lead and closed with a 65. He birdied two of his last three holes to match Koepka at 19-under 191 and force a playoff.
In the playoff at the par-3 18th, Rahm went over the green and into the bunker, a tough shot in which one foot was in the sand. He blasted out to about 25 feet, and his par putt to extend the playoff caught the edge of the cup.
Koepka also won LIV Golf Singapore this year. He picked up his fifth career victory since the Saudi-funded league began in June 2022.
Jason Kokrak shot 63 to finish alone in third. Richard Bland, the 51-year-old from England who won two senior majors this year, needed a birdie on the 18th to tie for the lead. He made bogey for a 65 and finished two behind.
Jose Luis Ballester became the first player from Spain to win the US golf Amateur, fending off Iowa sophomore Noah Kent 2 up at Hazeltine in the 36-hole match on his 21st birthday.
Ballester, who was the only player in the top 10 of the world amateur ranking to reach the round of 16, took the lead on the second hole and never trailed.
He joined Jon Rahm as the only players from Spain to win a USGA tournament. Rahm, who also played for the Sun Devils, won the US Open in 2021.
“We have many great Spaniards, many great legends,” Ballester said. “Being able to add my name into that history is pretty sweet.”
Both finalists gained exemptions for the Masters and the US Open next year, and Ballester also got a spot in the British Open.
Ballester trailed at some point in his last three matches before taking control in the grueling final.
Wearing a red polo, yellow shorts on loan from Spaniard he beat in the semi-finals, Luis Masaveu, and black socks to match his country’s colors, Ballester went 3 up after four holes on two early birdies.
He had a 4-up lead at the lunch break on a vintage 82-degree day with a slight late-summer breeze.
Kent, who entered the week as a long shot at No. 560 in the world amateur ranking, refused to fade on the exhausting final day.
