Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama pulled away from his challengers on the back nine at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Saturday and will carry a five-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round in Memphis, Tenn.
Matsuyama shot 6-under-par 64 during a steady round at TPC Southwind marred by an early bogey, but bolstered by five birdies and an eagle. Matsuyama, who posted his 12th straight round of par or better at Southwind, is at 17-under 193.
Tour rookie Nick Dunlap (66 on Saturday) is in second at 12 under, followed by Viktor Hovland (66) of Norway at 11 under and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (69) and Sam Burns (70) tied for fourth at 10 under.
“Hideki is obviously playing some fantastic golf,” Scheffler said. “I’ll do my best to put a little pressure on him and see what happens . . . but if he goes out and shoots another 5- or 6-under he’s going to be a pretty tough guy to catch.”
Matsuyama and Denny McCarthy entered the third round atop the leaderboard at 11-under 129, one shot better than Burns.
While McCarthy faded in the heat and humidity with a 2-over 72, Matsuyama was unaffected during a tournament in which he would be forgiven for lacking focus.
Shortly before arriving in Memphis. Matsuyama, his caddie and his swing coach were robbed while dining at a restaurant in London last weekend. The caddie and coach were forced to return to Japan after having their passports stolen during the incident. Matsuyama has been working in Memphis with Taiga Tabuchi, the regular caddie for Ryo Hisatsume.
“There’s a learning curve when you have a new caddie and (you’re) trying to work things out together,” Matsuyama said. “But it really hasn’t affected my play. We’re a good team right now.”
Matsuyma continued his solid play on Saturday amid the untimely breakup of his team. He built an early three-stroke lead after sinking a 15-foot eagle putt on the 554-yard, par-5 third and fought off challenges from Burns on the front nine.
Burns closed the gap with consecutive birdie putts on Nos. 4, 5 and 6 to catch Matsuyama at 13-under. Matsuyama re-opened an advantage, by two strokes, with a short birdie putt on No. 7 while Burns faltered with a bogey. Burns fell farther back with a double bogey on the par-4 No. 9.
On the back side, Matsuyama, the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, steadily pulled away and enjoyed a five-stroke advantage after 6-foot birdie putt on No. 13.
Second-round co-leader McCarthy, who has not won on tour in seven seasons, struggled from the outset. He shot three-over par on the front nine and was six strokes behind Matsuyama at the turn. He double-bogeyed 11 to drop farther out of contention. He finished strong with birdies on three of his final seven holes for a 2-over 72. He enters Sunday tied for sixth and eight shots back of Matsuyama.
Dunlap and Hovland remain in contention after their 66s Saturday, but if Matsuyama continues at his torrid pace, he’ll be difficult to catch.
“It’s super impressive stuff,” Hovland said of Matsuyama’s play. “It was not easy out there today.”
Dunlap, 20, a recent University of Alabama golfer who turned pro earlier this year, is the closest to catching Matsuyama. Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, he’s enjoying a magical rookie run.
“I should be playing in the U.S. (Amateur) this week and I just got done playing a round with Scottie,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”
The opening tournament of the season-ending playoffs features the top 70 in the FedEx Cup points standings. The top 50 in the standings advance to the next round, the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado. The Tour Championship will be played Labor Day weekend at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Those who finish Sunday ranked in the top 50 not only move on to Colorado but are eligible for every PGA Tour signature event in 2025.
–Field Level Media