Hideki Matsuyama survived a final-round wobble to hold on and win the FedEx St. Jude Championship - and its lucrative $20 million prize - without his caddie.
Coming off a bronze medal-winning performance in Paris , the odds were stacked against Matsuyama to deliver. He was using a new putter in Memphis, while also forced to work with a fill-in caddie Taiga Tabuchi after Matsuyama, his coach, and his caddie Shota Hayafuji were robbed at a restaurant in London .
After shooting a third-round 64 to lead by five heading into Sunday, Matsuyama struggled while Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland applied the pressure. However, the former Masters champion birdied 17 and 18 to win his 10th PGA Tour title.
Matsuyama had a new voice guiding his game. Tabuchi, whose usual boss Ryo Hisatsune texted him to try to learn as much as possible from Matsuyama, said: “I’m just carrying the bag and trying not to bother him.”
Matsuyama added: “Kind of reminded me of the first time Shota was on my bag. We kind of worked through a couple things. Really that was the main thing today is having teamwork with my caddie. Playing well, and I don't know how Shota is going to take it, but we'll work that out.”
The trio were returning from the Olympic Games when they were robbed while out for dinner, with Matsuyama losing his wallet - although his 2024 Olympic bronze medal was safe. However, his caddie Shota and coach Mikihito Kuromiya lost their passports and were forced to return to their native Japan to sort out their travel documents.
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“We didn't even know it happened,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter. “We were just having a friendly dinner, and Shota was the first one – Hey, where is my bag? Of course it was frustrating, but we really didn't know it happened. It was just kind of all of a sudden.
“It was an unfortunate situation. Luckily, I only lost my wallet, but Shota, my caddie, and my coach, lost their passports, and we're trying hard now to get their visas back in line, and hopefully they can join us as a team as soon as possible.”
When asked if his coach and caddie would be able to make it to next week's BMW Championship in Colorado, Matsuyama told Golf Digest Japan: “There’s a chance they’ll make it, but we have to go into it thinking it’s close to zero.”
The 32-year-old will be desperate for his duo to be by his side when he tees off at Castle Pines next week on the back of a huge win in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
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