Hideki Matsuyama saw a five-shot lead evaporate in four holes before two closing birdies earned him a nervy two-shot win in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The event forms part of the PGA Tour’s season-ending Playoffs, with only the top 50 in the overall standings advancing to the BMW Championship next week and assured of getting into all the $20m signature events next year.
England’s Justin Rose was one of those unfortunate to miss out, sitting 55th, after a closing round of 71 saw him finish six under for the week and in a tie for 22nd at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
The 50th and final spot went to US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who was projected just outside the cut-off for much of Sunday.
Norway’s Viktor Hovland (tied-second), Nick Dunlap (tied-fifth) and Eric Cole (tied-18th) moved into the top 50 with impressive final rounds, particularly Cole, who did it in style with a 63 to share the joint-low round of seven under with Xander Schauffele and Max Greyserman.
Meanwhile, falling out of the top 50 were Tom Kim, Mackenzie Hughes and Jake Knapp, while Rose remained five places adrift in 55th.
Kim was poised to advance until it took him two shots to get out of a greenside bunker on the par-five 16th which kick-started a bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey finish and left him in 51st and just on the outside of qualification.
Meanwhile, at the top end of the FedEx St. Jude leaderboard, Matsuyama finished 17 under, two strokes better off than Schauffele and Viktor Hovland despite an almighty scare down the back nine.
Matsuyama carried a five-stroke lead into Sunday – the largest 54-hole advantage of his career – but he faltered down the stretch.
After playing his first 11 holes two under, he endured a bogey, par, bogey, double-bogey stretch from holes 12 through 15, allowing Schauffele and Hovland to briefly pass him.
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Schauffele was eight under – nine strokes behind Matsuyama – to begin his round. He made his charge with a bogey-free round and nearly chipped in off the green on 18 to make the final hole even tougher for Matsuyama.
But Matsuyama ultimately clinched victory with a back-to-back birdie finish at the 17th and 18th holes, the latter despite it playing as the toughest hole on the course.
It is Matsuyama’s 10th career PGA Tour title and comes after a pre-tournament robbery in London that left him without his caddie and coach, who lost their passports in the robbery and had to return to Japan.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler (66) finished alone in fourth at 14 under.
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