If putter stays hot, expect Hideki Matsuyama to gain edge in FedExCup chase

Brad Faxon, an eight-time PGA TOUR winner and now putting guru, tells a funny tale that reinforces the notion that Hideki Matsuyama will leave no stone unturned in his pursuit for perfection, and perhaps, the 2024 FedExCup.

The Japanese star was on the practice green at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, before the final round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three FedExCup Playoffs events, where he held an overnight five-shot lead. A putting nerd and TV analyst, Faxon approached Matsuyama about the new Scotty Cameron putter in his bag.

“He has a five-shot lead, leading the week in putting stats, which was incredible," Faxon told SiriusXM PGA TOUR radio, "and I said, 'May I look at your putter as I’ve never seen it?'

“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! 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.’”

Over the years, the flat stick has been Matsuyama’s pain and joy. He is renowned for his superb ball-striking abilities, reflected by his Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green third ranking this season. However, entering Memphis last week, he was ranked 133rd in SG: Putting.

His past five seasons have seen him ranked 119th, 114th, 175th, 170th and 97th in putting. At TPC Southwind, he gained an astonishing 12.78 strokes over the field with his new putter and made a total of 453 feet of putts, the second-most in his career, which now includes 10 PGA TOUR titles.

However, as he prepares for this week’s BMW Championship just south of Denver, 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.

“Usually I travel with five or six putters,” said Matsuyama, who became the winningest Asian golfer with his victory at The Genesis Invitational in February. “The putter that I used (in Memphis), I received it from Scotty (Cameron) 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 FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy, admitted to being nervous after Matsuyama’s impromptu request: “I'm like how could I dare say anything,” he said. “Before he starts his stroke, (his putter) is really never stagnant … It's got that little bouncy, 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 forces him to slow down the movement of the flat stick to avoid the coin from falling off.

No Asian golfer has won the FedExCup since its inception in 2007. Sungjae Im of Korea came closest in 2022, finishing tied for second behind McIlroy. Matsuyama enters the BMW Championship at third in the standings, trailing Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, two Americans who are also Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the OWGR.

“There are many players from different countries, and to not yet have a player from Asia win (the FedExCup) is something that motivates me,” Matsuyama said. "I’d be very happy if more people believed that a player from Asia could win it.”

He might do so, especially if his putter remains hot over the next two weeks.