Hideki Matsuyama felt his lower back starting to hurt. On a whim, he decided to use a new putter at the start of the PGA Tour postseason. Now, the Japanese golfer has a five-shot lead going into the last round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
“I am surprised,” Matsuyama said through his interpreter, with a big smile, adding, “but I did play well today.”
He played well enough for a second consecutive 6-under 64, which allowed him to pull away from a packed field and build a big lead over Nick Dunlap.
Matsuyama quickly made up for an early bogey by hitting a 3-wood over the water to 15 feet and making the eagle putt. He kept adding birdies throughout the day in more hot weather, and no one could catch up to him.
Denny McCarthy, who was tied for the lead with Matsuyama after 36 holes, made four bogeys before getting his first birdie. Sam Burns had only five pars — and a broken driver — in his round of 70 and fell behind. Scottie Scheffler lost ground with a few poor chip shots and was seven shots back after a 69.
“I felt like I got away with some stuff, so hopefully clean it up a little bit and give myself a lot more opportunities,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler was at 10-under 200 along with Burns, who broke his driver on No. 9 by slamming it to the ground. He made a double bogey to go with five bogeys and seven birdies. It was quite a day.
Dunlap did his best to stay close and was within three shots until he hit one wild drive too many. On the 12th hole, he went so far right that he cleared the water and landed on the other side, and then managed to save par.
But he hit right again on the 13th into deep grass, couldn’t reach the green, and took bogey.
He shot 66 and will be in the final group, continuing his impressive run. A year ago, he was winning the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. He won The American Express in January as an amateur, turned pro, and then won the Barracuda Championship last month.
“I should be playing the U.S. Am this week, and I just finished a round of golf with Scottie. It was pretty cool,” Dunlap said.
Dunlap is one of five players who have won multiple times this year but still had a slim chance to extend his season. He was No. 67 in the FedEx Cup standings because he was an amateur when he won his first PGA Tour title and didn’t earn any points.
Even if he doesn’t catch Matsuyama, Dunlap could still make it into the top 50, which would allow him to advance to the BMW Championship next week and secure a spot in the Tour Championship for the top 30 players.
Matsuyama was at 17-under 193 and in a good position to win his first FedEx Cup playoff event.
But this postseason opener was all about moving on. The top 50 players will advance to the next playoff event outside Denver and are guaranteed entry into all eight of the $20 million signature events next year.
Viktor Hovland, the defending FedEx Cup champion who started this postseason at No. 57, made a big move with a 66. He was in third place, six shots behind.
“The ball is starting to behave like I’m expecting it to,” Hovland said. “The misses are way smaller than they used to be. Before they would be off the planet, whereas now it’s manageable and I can make a nice up-and-down or make a long putt or whatever it is.”
Jordan Spieth’s season effectively ended when he made two double bogeys in his round of 74, putting him in 69th place among the 70-man field.
Will Zalatoris started the postseason at No. 49 and shot 67 on Saturday. He was tied for sixth and is almost certain to stay well inside the top 50.
Among those who are close to advancing into the next round going into Sunday are Justin Rose and Adam Scott. Rose is No. 55 in the FedEx Cup standings and was tied for ninth after 54 holes at the TPC Southwind.
He shot 71 on Saturday, including a double bogey on the last hole. Scott is at No. 46. He shot 68 and was projected to be inside the top 50 going into the final day.
Others expected to be just inside the top 50 include Harris English, who is still dealing with a bad back, and Nick Taylor, who won the Phoenix Open.
Rory McIlroy, who was seen playing tennis after his first round in the extreme heat on Thursday, had a bogey and two double bogeys after just four holes on Saturday. He shot 74 and was near the bottom of the leaderboard.
However, he could afford a poor week since he started at No. 3 and was expected to drop no more than one or two spots.
Matsuyama has finished in the top 10 three times in his last six events, including winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. Why did he switch putters? He’s not really sure.
“I’ve had the putter for a while, and I thought it might be a good week to debut that putter,” Matsuyama said.
He leads in the key putting statistic, gaining on average nearly seven shots against the field. He also has 19 birdies and an eagle.
