“Everybody is dealing with a little something at the end of the year,” said Scottie Scheffler in an interview ahead of the 2024 TOUR Championship.
His statement was perhaps hinting at the St. Jude Championship winner, Hideki Matsuyama, who withdrew from the second Playoff event owing to an injury.
But now, it seems that this ‘something’ that the world No. 1 alluded to just got a bit more serious.
A tweet was shared by Golf Injury Report on their X handle pointing out how Matsuyama reportedly mentioned his back is currently in a 50-60% condition.
However, what turned the heads of many was another revelation the post made soon after about how the golfer was “dealing with a neck issue last week as well,” per reports.
Despite that, it seems like he has his eyes set on the upcoming President’s Cup that will tee off on September 24.
Todd Lewis, a journalist at Golf Channel and NBC, meanwhile, had reported that “Hideki’s back is not 100% but he intends to play this week.” He also highlighted how the Japanese golfer will start the FedEx Cup season-finale, the 2024 TOUR Championship at T3 with a 7-under, owing to his place on the standings.
So how did he injure himself? Well, Hideki Matsuyama had just arrived at Castle Pines to warm up for the BMW Championship on Friday, last week.
Interestingly, the athlete had, on Thursday, carded a 5-under 67 after the first round came to an end. However, come round 2, he was hit with pain in the lower back causing him to pull out.
“I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the BMW Championship,” announced the pro in a statement on Friday. “After experiencing lower back discomfort while warming up this morning, which made it impossible to play today.”
Matsuyama also expressed his gratitude towards BMW and the Western Golf Association for welcoming him to the event at Castle Pines. Nevertheless, he is readying himself to tee off at the TOUR Championship with a Scottie Scheffler-like mindset.
“It definitely is a little bit of a sprint,” mentioned Scheffler while referring to the 20245 PGA Tour schedule. “I’m sure people got little aches and pains,” he claimed talking about how this was the final week and it was not the time to back down, adding that players “didn’t play all year to just get tired at East Lake and kind of just throw in the towel.”
Matsuyama is showcasing that exact sentiment right now too, despite not being 100% healthy when it comes to his body.
It’s also not the first time the professional has pulled out of the tournaments while citing injury. He had done so at the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Wells Fargo Championship as well. Back in 2022, he had withdrawn from The PLAYERS owing to a similar back injury.
And now he’s playing through this persisting pain trying to grab the top spot at the FedEx Cup finale! Will it pay off? Tune in to find out.
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Source: Tampa Bay Times
