{"id":457660,"date":"2026-02-09T05:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T05:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/457660\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T05:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T05:03:08","slug":"hideki-matsuyama-loses-wm-phoenix-open-after-battling-driver-late-crowd-distractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/457660\/","title":{"rendered":"Hideki Matsuyama loses WM Phoenix Open after battling driver, late crowd distractions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The People\u2019s Open took itself a little too literally on Sunday at TPC Scottsdale.<\/p>\n

Hideki Matsuyama had to back off two shots on the 18th hole because of audible noises from the crowd, once in regulation and again in a playoff, before ultimately losing his bid for a third WM Phoenix Open title to a walk-off birdie by Chris Gotterup.<\/p>\n

The first crowd interference of Matsuyama came as he stood over a 25-foot par save that would\u2019ve won him the tournament outright. The loud scream prompted Matsuyama to step away and look back in displeasure, and after other people in the crowd could be heard shaming the culprit, Matsuyama stepped back in and missed right. Moments later, back on the tee box, Matsuyama had started his downswing when a crash was heard in the gallery. It\u2019s unknown if the noise was intentional or not; Gotterup later said he thought it was a chair falling. <\/p>\n

Amazingly, Matsuyama was able to stop his swing, but when he swung again, he yanked his drive badly into the lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s disappointing, shock,\u201d Matsuyama told reporters afterward through his interpreter.<\/p>\n

Matsuyama\u2019s driving, of course, didn\u2019t help matters.<\/p>\n

That was the story of Matsuyama\u2019s Sunday. The evening before, as he sat atop the leaderboard by a shot, Matsuyama was asked about his affinity for TPC Scottsdale, to which he responded, \u201cI like this course because even if I miss a fairway, I can still find my ball. Unless it\u2019s in the cactuses.\u201d He put that love to the test, flirting with disaster all day by not finding a fairway until the 14th hole and hitting only two in 15 swings \u2013 and by just inches both times.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Matsuyama driver woes sink hopes for third WM Phoenix Open title<\/p>\n

Hideki Matsuyama lost for the first time in his PGA Tour career carrying a lead into Sunday. His driver betrayed him throughout the final round, failing to hit a single fairway on the front nine. Matsuyama eventually lost a playoff to Chris Gotterup.<\/p>\n

Only three players who made the cut drove it worse than Matsuyama this week, yet despite his waywardness, he remained faithful to the driver. He pulled it on the 348-yard, 17th hole and proceeded to find the toe, nearly sending the shot into the water that guards the left side of the green. Somehow, Matsuyama\u2019s ball stayed on the fringe and he avoided bogey for the 17th time in his final round.<\/p>\n

But Matsuyama\u2019s fortune would soon turn. His final drive of regulation found the church pews left of the fairway, and though he had a decent lie in the sand and only 123 yards to the hole, Matsuyama didn\u2019t come close to clearing one of the pews. He then wedged onto the green to give himself a chance at an improbable bogey-free round.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas grinding all weekend,\u201d Matsuyama said. \u201cDidn\u2019t have my best stuff, but hung in there. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matsuyama wasn\u2019t asked about the unruly fan(s).<\/p>\n

Gotterup was asked, though he likely was unaware of the yelling fan, as he was already warming up for a potential playoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, it\u2019s a good thing that there\u2019s so many people,\u201d Gotterup said. \u201cYou hear it, but you have so much going through your brain, it\u2019s almost like white noise. Obviously, I think on the tee box a chair fell. Of course that happens in the playoff. But it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"WM<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Hideki Matsuyama\u2019s third WM Phoenix Open title was denied in a drama-filled playoff on Sunday at TPC Scottsdale. Chris Gotterup bested the Masters champion for his second win on Tour this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I felt like I was focused on what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the PGA Tour, WM Phoenix Open officials and players have long embraced this tournament\u2019s rowdy reputation, major changes were made after the 2024 edition broke contain, with scenes of public drunkenness, fights, heckling of players and even a spectator falling from the grandstands at the par-3 16th hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tournament has been inappropriate and crossed the line since I\u2019ve been on tour and this is my 21st year,\u201d Zach Johnson told the Arizona Republic that year. \u201cI don\u2019t know what the line is, but you have people falling out of the rafters, you have fights in the stands. \u2026 It\u2019s to the point where now, how do you reel it in? Because it\u2019s taken on a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

The People\u2019s Open couldn\u2019t keep some people at bay forever. Two days before Matsuyama\u2019s incidents, a popular streamer filmed himself paying a fan $100 to shout a profanity in Mackenzie Hughes\u2019 backswing at No. 18. Luckily, Hughes was only going through his pre-shot waggle, but both the streamer and the fan were kicked out and trespassed.<\/p>\n

The PGA Tour later told The Athletic in a statement, \u201cThe PGA Tour and The Thunderbirds are committed to protecting the integrity of the competition and providing an exceptional experience for all fans. Disruptive fan behavior will not be tolerated, and anyone violating the Fan Code of Conduct is subject to immediate ejection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any ejections Sunday evening wouldn\u2019t have done Matsuyama much good. His tournament was already over, perhaps later than it should\u2019ve been considering how he drove the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cLearn from it,\u201d Matsuyama said, \u201cand just get back up on the horse next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tighter confines of Pebble Beach should be a little quieter at least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The People\u2019s Open took itself a little too literally on Sunday at TPC Scottsdale. Hideki Matsuyama had to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-457660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}