PGA Tour golfer Michael Kim says he feels for Hideki Matsuyama after a group of “losers” tried to distract the former Masters champion at the WM Phoenix Open.
Matsuyama had the tournament in his hands at TPC Scottsdale on Sunday and needed only a par on the 72nd hole at TPC Scottsdale to claim his 12th PGA Tour title.
Instead, he made a devastating bogey after making a complete hash of the 18th.
His tee shot went way left and found the church few bunkers. From there, clattered his approach into the lip of the bunker.
An average pitch from 50 yards left him with a 24-foot putt for the win but he missed it low and he dropped into a play-off with America’s Chris Gotterup.
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Matsuyama was even forced to step away from his crucial par putt in regulation on the 18th green after a spectator shouted just as he was about to make his stroke.
“Get in the hole!”
Hideki Matsuyama faced an early shout from a fan on his putt to try and win The Waste Management Phoenix Open, prompting him to back off.
What should the penalty be for this?
pic.twitter.com/9XQ2ip0KkM
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) February 9, 2026
Minutes later, he stepped off his tee shot on the first play-off hole after it appeared the same thing happened again.
Matsuyama displayed “shades of Tiger” by managing to stop on his downswing, according to CBS golf analyst Trevor Immelman.
Once again, Matsuyama’s tee shot went left but this time it found the water.
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It has now emerged that a tournament member of staff dropped a chair just as he reached the top of his backswing.
Watch the moment here:
Still, PGA Tour member Kim, who finished in a share of 18th at the WM Phoenix Open, was unimpressed by what he saw.
On X, Kim wrote: “There’s always the few idiots that make everyone else look bad.
“I feel for Hideki having to deal with those losers that were yelling. I dealt with a couple also.
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“The Thunderbirds and the staff have really tried to make things better (and have) but you cant control everyone out of 100k people.”
Gotterup, who started the final round four strokes behind Matsuyama, went on to win his fourth PGA Tour title in Phoenix.
When asked how he stayed focussed during the closing stages, he said: “You know, it’s a good thing that there’s so many people.
“You hear it but you have so much going through your brain, it’s almost like white noise.
“I think on the tee box a chair fell. Of course that happens in the play-off.
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“But it’s just a crazy atmosphere, and you just have to embrace it this week, and I felt like I did a good job of that.
“Let alone trying to win a tournament and then also having people line the fairways, it just makes it that much more difficult.
“But I felt like I was focused on what I was doing.”
For his part, Matsuyama admitted he was disappointed not to win in regulation.
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But he didn’t complain about being distracted.
“Didn’t have my best stuff, but hung in there,” he said.
“I wanted to avoid the playoff as much as I could, but I just hit a bad tee shot there in regulation at 18 and Chris made a good putt there in the playoff.
“So hats off to him.”
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