Hideki Matsuyama of Japan makes his way to the 11th green at the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am tournament on Aug. 21, 2024 at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado, prior to the BMW Championship. (AFP/Getty Images/Harry How)
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merican Brad Faxon, an eight-time PGA Tour winner and now a putting guru, tells a funny tale, reinforcing the notion that Hideki Matsuyama will leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of perfection, and perhaps also earning a chance to rewrite more golf history by the time the 2024 FedEx Cup Playoffs conclude.
The Japanese star was on the practice green at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, before the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three playoffs, where he held an overnight five-shot lead. Being a putter nerd, Faxon, who is also a TV analyst, approached Matsuyama about his new Scotty Cameron putter, which he had in his bag for the first time.
“He has a five-shot lead, leading the week in putting stats, which was incredible, and I said, may I look at your putter, as I’ve never seen it,” Faxon told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio.
“I'm a Scotty Cameron geek too, and he takes it out of the head cover, hands it to me and then, honest to God, Hideki goes, ‘Can I have a putting lesson?’ and he says it to me in English!” Faxon recounted.
“I started laughing and said, ‘Hideki, you're leading by five, you're putting first on Tour this week and want a putting lesson?’ I thought it was funny, and then Bob Turner [Matsuyama’s agent and interpreter] came up and goes, ‘He's serious, he wants to know what you like about his putting.’”
The flat stick has been Matsuyama’s pain and joy over the years. He is renowned for his superb ball striking, which is reflected in his ranking third this season for Strokes Gained (SG): Tee to Green.
Entering Memphis last week, which by the way Matsuyama won by two, he ranked a lowly 133rd in SG: Putting.
His past five seasons have seen him ranked 119th, 114th, 175th , 170th and 97th in putting, which makes one wonder how many more PGA Tours he could have won if he putted better and more consistently.
At TPC Memphis, his new putter got real hot as he gained an astonishing 12.78 strokes over the field and made a total of 453 feet of putts, the second most in his career that now includes 10 PGA Tour titles.
As he prepares for this week’s BMW Championship however, there is no guarantee it will remain his preferred weapon of choice. Such is Matsuyama’s thirst for perfection that he is prepared to keep tinkering with his equipment. As to seeking advice from Faxon just before teeing off in the final round of a US$20 million event, it proves that he is like a sponge, ever ready to absorb all forms of golf knowledge, simply to get better.
“Usually, I travel with five or six putters,” said Matsuyama, who ranked third in putting when he won the Genesis Invitational and became the winningest Asian golfer with nine victories back in February. “The putter that I used [in Memphis], I received it from Scotty last year, but I had never used it before. But for some reason when I was at home in Orlando coming to this tournament, I just started feeling that this putter may work on these greens.”
Faxon, whose star pupil is three-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy, admitted to feeling nervous after Matsuyama’s impromptu request.
“I'm like, how could I dare say anything?” laughed Faxon.
“Before he starts his stroke, [his putter] is really never stagnant […] it's got that little [bounce], it's almost like the putter head is nervous, but I like that fidgetiness. I definitely didn't want to say anything technical that might confuse him, and I told him what I like is the squareness of his setup. I think the bouncy putter […] so many great putters have done that, and I don't like being static over the ball.”
Last season, Matsuyama surprised many with a putting drill where he put a coin on the toe of his putter, which forced him to slow down the movement of the flat stick to avoid the coin falling off.
He is also known to stash over 20 clubs in his golf bag during practice rounds to test certain clubs before competition.
Tapping up Faxon for advice before his final round must rank among the more interesting anecdotes to date about Matsuyama, who is obviously keen to gain an edge as he chases FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler for the Tour’s ultimate prize. The top 30 after the BMW Championship qualify for the Tour Championship, with Matsuyama projected to start the week three strokes back of Scheffler in the staggered scoring final tournament.
No Asian golfer has won the FedEx Cup since its inception in 2007, though Sung-jae Im of Korea came the closest in 2022 after tying second behind McIlroy.
“There are many players from different countries, and to not yet have a player from Asia win [the FedEx Cup] is something that motivates me,” Matsuyama said previously. “I’d be very happy if more people believed that a player from Asia could win it.”
He just might do so, especially if his putter remains hot over the next two weeks.
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The writer is APAC senior director of marketing and communications at PGA Tour.