Hideki Matsuyama suffered a dreaded double-hit when chipping at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, but responded in style with a chip-in eagle on the very next hole.
The Genesis Invitational winner finished his round on five under, tied for second just a shot behind leader Shane Lowry thanks to a rule change that prevented him from having any penalty strokes for his error.
The Japanese star’s chip out of the greenside rough at 15 ballooned up into the air and caught his wedge a second time, which until a 2019 rule change would have cost him two penalty shots.
After missing a par save from 10 feet, it cost Matsuyama his one bogey of the day, but it’s still better than what he initially thought.
And the former Masters champion responded like a Major champion should, as he chipped in from 50 feet on the par-five 16th for an eagle.
That helped him make a flying finish to his round of 67 that he feared could’ve been two shots worse after admitting he wasn’t sure if a penalty was coming his way after the double hit.
“It wasn’t like a difficult lie or anything, just hit it in the air,” Matsuyama said after his round.
“I was like, Oh, shoot, it hit. I wasn’t sure if that was a penalty or not, but I asked the caddie, and he mentioned it’s not a penalty, so I was able to keep my game going.”
Double hit to chip-in 😳Co-leader @HidekiOfficial_ had an interesting short-game sequence on Nos. 15 and 16 @APInv. pic.twitter.com/rVPCh15kWnMarch 7, 2024
The double hit may have in part been caused by continuing back pain Matsuyama was struggle with during his first round – which he said caused him to take something off his shots throughout.
“My back was not feeling perfect,” he addmited. “But I was kind of hitting, kind of protecting myself, so, but I feel like I was able to keep the momentum from the previous tournament, so I think that really helped.
“It happened maybe like two years ago. It didn’t get worse since then. But my leg is a little numb right now, so it’s really not the perfect condition.”
It remains to be see how Matsuyama’s back will hinder him for the second round or whether some treatment overnight will help loosen it up.
Matsuyama will not want to withdraw after maintaining some of the form that took him to his victory at Riviera last month – and if he can get away with a double hit and still be challenging he must be playing well.
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