Hideki Matsuyama authors latest wild finish at TPC Southwind

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Soil from across the United States was shipped to Memphis, Tennessee, for the ceremony heralding the creation of TPC Southwind. The dirt came from the Tournament Players Clubs already in existence, and included the “rich, black silt” of Florida’s TPC Sawgrass and the “sandy loam” of the Arizona desert, according to the local newspaper’s report.

The “groundraising” ceremony, as it was called, was meant to signify that this new course would be built in the same ilk as its predecessors, created for spectators and designed to elicit drama. The mounds that lined the fairways would give them elevated vantage points from which to watch a closing stretch where anything could happen.

“The concept of a Tournament Players Club stadium course is to make sure when you come to the golf course, you get your money’s worth,” said Deane Beman, then the PGA TOUR Commissioner.

TPC Southwind continues to deliver on that premise, with proof coming again Sunday after Hideki Matsuyama survived a chaotic back nine to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship by two shots. Matsuyama started the day with a five-shot lead but still had to birdie the final two holes to win. He’s the first player in nearly three decades to win at TPC Southwind by making birdies on both 17 and 18.

Matsuyama had to hold off some of the game’s biggest names to earn his 10th PGA TOUR victory. Xander Schauffele, winner of two majors in 2024, finished second, as did defending FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland, who is seeking to reverse course after a difficult season. Scottie Scheffler finished alone in fourth, three shots short of his seventh win of 2024.

This has been a successful 2024 for Matsuyama, as well. He ended a two-year victory drought with his final-round 62 at The Genesis Invitational, then earned Olympic bronze medal. Now he’ll arrive at the BMW Championship ranked third in the FedExCup.

Sunday’s finish follows a series of unpredictable endings at TPC Southwind. Matsuyama led all day until playing Nos. 14 and 15 in 3-over par. He made bogey on 14 after hitting his tee shot into the water, then doubled the next after three-putting from 50 feet.

Hovland experienced the most whiplash over the final holes. He suddenly led by one when he was in the 17th fairway. From the right trees on No. 17, his approach went into the right bunker. He failed to get up-and-down, falling back into a tie with Matsuyama.

Hovland’s drive on the 18th went into the right rough but his approach shot flew straight at a flag flush against the water on the left side of the green, rolling 10 feet behind the hole. It looked like that putt could win it for Hovland, but while he was playing the final hole, Matsuyama made birdie on 17 to pull one ahead. Now Hovland needed to make it just to tie. He missed, giving Matsuyama a one-shot lead as he played the final hole.

When Matsuyama hit the fairway and green on the 18th, it was over. The birdie putt was just a bonus.

TPC Southwind has seen the most water balls on the PGA TOUR in the ShotLink era, and may of those have come at No. 14, the downhill par 3 with water looming right. Matsuyama was the latest player to deposit one there.

The following two holes are supposed to be birdie opportunities, though. The 15th is a short par 4 with a creek that serves as a small hazard that outpunches its weight. Trying to avoid it after hitting his tee shot into the right rough, Matsuyama needed two chips and three putts to hole out. He failed to birdie the par-5 16th, the easiest hole of the week, but made birdies on two of the course’s most difficult holes.

After making nine pars and a lone birdie on his first 10 holes Sunday, Matsuyama had just two pars the rest of the way. He also made three birdies, two bogeys and a double.

When asked which surprised him more, that he lost his lead or regained it with birdies on the last two holes, Matsuyama said, “It has to be the two birdies at 17 and 18.”

Earlier in the day, Tom Kim made double-bogey on both to fall outside the top 50 in the FedExCup standings. Matsuyama holed a 26-footer on 17 before making his 6-footer on the final green.

“I felt today's victory slipping away at that point because 17 and 18 are difficult holes enough, let alone to birdie them,” Matsuyama said. “But I was fortunate enough to birdie 17. Immediately I thought, 'Oh, man, this is going to be a tough tee shot at 18. I've got to keep it in the fairway.' I'm grateful I was able to do it.”

The most famous meltdown in the Memphis heat came in 2010, when Robert Garrigus tripled the final hole and lost in a playoff. He snapped his tee shot into the water, then had to drop in front of the lake. His next shot hooked into trees on the opposite side of the water, forcing him to chip out across the lake and back into the fairway.

The past three years have seen similar excitement.

Last year, Lucas Glover had to make a 20-foot par putt, a 30-foot bogey putt (after hitting into the water on 14) and a 12-foot par putt over the final six holes to force a playoff with Patrick Cantlay, who shot a final-round 64 to make up a five-shot deficit. Cantlay’s tee shot in the playoff landed in the rough outside the hazard line, but bounced a handful of times before trickling into the water.

In 2021, Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English were clear of the field when they arrived at TPC Southwind’s back nine. They combined to shoot 81 on those holes, though. DeChambeau made triple at the island-green 11th after hitting his tee shot into the water. English also found the lake at 11, doubled the hole, and followed with another double bogey after hitting into the water on the back nine’s other par 3.

A year later, Will Zalatoris earned his first PGA TOUR victory by holing a 7-footer for bogey on the third hole of a playoff with Sepp Straka. Both players hit into the water on the island 11th when they returned there for sudden death, but Zalatoris won after getting up-and-down from the drop area.

The preceding playoff hole was just as interesting.

Zalatoris’ tee shot bounced off the cart path and came to rest a few feet from a boundary fence, forcing him to chip out from the trees. Straka barely cleared the water off the tee, but his ball was on grass just inside the hazard line. He hit it to 7 feet after taking a penalty drop. Zalatoris hit his third shot to 15 feet, and both players made their putts for unlikely pars. That’s when they returned to the 11th hole to continue the chaos.

Scheffler compared TPC Southwind to the original Tournament Players Club, a course where he’s won twice. The back nine is a volatile mix of holes, offering both birdies and bogeys.

“It can be a difficult course to close on,” Scheffler said of TPC Southwind.

Matsuyama illustrated that point, until he didn’t.