Hideki Matsuyama hits three balls in the water on same hole, makes nine, shoots 77 and withdraws from 3M Open
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Updated 21/07/2022 at 22:54 GMT
Hideki Matsuyama will not look back on the ninth hole of the 3M Open with fond memories, as he sent three balls into the water and signed for a quadruple-bogey nine. The ninth at TPC Twin Cities is seen as a scoring opportunity, but not in Matsuyama's case as he put a nine on his scorecard in a round of 77.
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Hideki Matsuyama hit three balls in the water on the same hole and later withdrew from the 3M Open.
The Japanese superstar signed for a 77, but that tells nothing of the drama on the ninth hole as he ran up a quadruple bogey.
His tee shot leaked to the right and bounced into the water. He took a drop, but was left with an awful stance. He had the option to chop the ball into the fairway, but elected to take aim at the green. The effort came up 15 yards short, landing with a plonk in the lake.
Albert Einstein said insanity is to do the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome. Matsuyama, who has been strongly linked with a move to LIV Golf, reloaded from the same spot, and sent a third ball into the lake.
This time, he changed tack and hit a wedge from further up, and sent his ball into the grandstand.
The eventful nature of the hole continued, as he took a drop and his chip crashed into the flagstick. Thankfully, it stopped dead and he was able to tap in and avoid double figures on a single hole.
If that was not enough drama, one hole later the 2021 Masters champion chipped in for a birdie.
From there, it turned sour once again as further bogeys followed as he signed for a 77, leaving him 12 shots adrift of leaders Scott Piercy and Sungjae Im.
Following his round, Matsuyama reported stiffness in his wrist and opted to withdraw.
Matsuyama's round of six-over was only two better than Mardy Fish, with the former tennis star taking part on a sponsor's invite to become the first former tennis professional to play in a PGA Tour event.
First Round Leaderboard
- T1. Scott Piercy, six-under
- T1. Sungjae Im, six-under
- T3. Tom Hoge, four-under
- T3. Brice Garnett, four-under
- T3. Tony Finau, four-under
- T3. Doug Ghim, four-under
Tony Finau could have been forgiven for being a little jaded, after flying back from the Open in St Andrews earlier in the week.
He bogeyed his opening hole, but played solid golf from that point on as he eased into contention with a round of 67 to sit at four-under.
A couple of bogeys late in his round derailed Rickie Fowler’s charge, as he was forced to sign for a one-under 70.
Tom Hoge was another player to struggle, this time on the greens.
Hoge had a short putt for birdie, but it drifted left, caught a slope and ended up 15 feet away from the cup. A possible birdie became a bogey.
To his credit, Hoge recovered to card a four-under 67.
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