Burns got hotter than Marble Bar in January when he pulled his tee shot badly on the par-4 ninth hole during the third round of the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind.
Matsuyama was returning to the US from Paris, where he won the Olympic golf bronze medal, and he was travelling with his caddie, Shota Hayato and coach Mikihito Kuromiya. They had a one-night layover in London and went to a restaurant downtown where the robbery occurred.
Xander Schauffele, the defending Olympic champion, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood each finished at 11 under par for 36 holes to share the halfway lead in the race for the medal stand.
It was the 17th time this year Schauffele shot 65 or better, the most recent being the final-round 65 that won him his second major at the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
The result of a soft golf course was a first-round scoring average of 69.82 and a field that was a combined 86-under par. Half the holes played under par for the day, and the field averaged four birdies per round.
A number of rogue videos of the supposed incident have already been removed from social media. But they had been spreading like wildfire, as all potential rules controversies do. The CBS crew must have known this was the case, because Jim Nantz quickly brought in rules and review analyst Mark Dusbabek to explain that there was no foul play from Matsuyama.Â
With this victory, his ninth, Matsuyama is now Asia’s most prolific PGA Tour winner, passing South Korea’s K.J. Choi, who has owned that record since the 2011 Players Championship.
Jordan Spieth accepted full responsibility for his disqualification on Friday at the Genesis Invitational, the result of Spieth signing an incorrect scorecard. Now that 48 hours have passed, though, the three-time major winner had no issue poking fun himself and how the whole situation played out.
Since its inauguration in 2007, only 13 golfers have managed to get their hands on the glittering, season-long FedEx Cup trophy – out of a possible 2,709 across the past 16 seasons.Â
It’s beach season in the US. All across America, people are shoving their toes in the sand, ready to forget their troubles for a few sunny hours of rest and relaxation. Well, except for Hideki Matsuyama.
Australian Golf Digest
