New putter sparks Hideki Matsuyama to victory at FedEx St. Jude Championship

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Hideki Matsuyama doesn’t shy away from testing different putters weekly on the PGA TOUR. Usually, he travels with five or six to each event. It was no different at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but this time he made a switch to one he had yet to use in competition – a pivotal decision come Sunday to help earn his 10th TOUR title.

Already a winner this season at The Genesis Invitational, Matsuyama opened a five-shot lead at the FedEx. St Jude Championship through three rounds, matching elite ball-striking with a red-hot putter. But down the stretch on TPC Southwind’s water-laden back nine Sunday, Matsuyama rode the new putter to victory.

“Coming into Memphis, I felt like I needed a change of pace, kind of a refresh with my putter,” Matsuyama said after winning the opening leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. “I thought about the putters I had, and I felt – because I knew this course. I knew the condition of the greens. I thought this putter might work, and it did. I putted great, and I won.”

After opening Sunday with seven consecutive pars, Matsuyama made a 38-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth and then another from 19 feet on the 11th. Despite squandering his lead with bogeys on the 12th and 14th, then a double bogey on No. 15, Matsuyama bounced back emphatically on the penultimate hole. Needing a birdie to move back ahead, Matsuyama rolled in a 26-foot birdie, fist-pumping the air as the ball dropped into the cup. He sealed victory with another birdie on the difficult 18th, hitting the second closest approach of the day at the beastly final hole.

Finishing at 17-under total, two shots ahead of a resurgent Viktor Hovland and the ever-present Xander Schauffele, Matsuyama gained over eight strokes putting for the week, a stark contrast from what he’s averaged this season, sitting 133rd and losing strokes overall.

“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,” Matsuyama said after the final round.

The winning putter is a Scotty Cameron Craftsman Squareback Tour Prototype. Originally built with a “bullet bottom sole” for weight distribution, Matsuyama had it filled in. The putter has a single dot sightline and custom Scotty Cameron stampings on the back and sole.

“I've had the putter for a while, and I thought, well, it might be a good week to debut that putter,” Matsuyama said after Saturday’s third round. “But I might change putters tonight even.”

Although hard to believe, he was almost serious about the decision. Before his final-round tee time in Memphis, he shocked those watching on at the practice putting green, pulling out a different putter than the one that had found a home in the bag. Starting his putting practice routine with a more traditional Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter – similar to one he’s used throughout his career – he soon switched back to the Craftsman Squareback to take to the course and earn his first FedExCup Playoffs victory.

With the win, Matsuyama moves on to the BMW Championship for the 11th time in his career after having to withdraw last year due to a lingering back issue. His best showing at the BMW Championship was a third-place finish in 2019 when he shot up the leaderboard with a final-round 63 at Medinah Country Club to finish five behind Justin Thomas. But Matsuyama’s still not certain on which flatstick he’ll have in the bag.

"Whether or not I'll use it next week, we'll see,” he said. “I've never played Castle Pines … and we'll just have to wait and see what the greens are like there before I choose which putter I'll use.”