Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the BMW Championship ahead of Friday’s second round due to a lower back injury, the PGA Tour announced.
“I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the BMW Championship after experiencing lower back discomfort while warming up this morning, which made it impossible to play,” Matsuyama said in a statement.
He shot a first-round 67 with six birdies, including three consecutive birdies on holes 2,3 and 4.
Coming in hot from downtown 🔥
@HidekiOfficial_ with his third-straight birdie from 73 feet on No. 4 @BMWChamps. pic.twitter.com/JvQCOtoq1m— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 22, 2024
Matsuyama is coming off a win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last weekend. The 10-time PGA Tour winner shot a final-round 70 to win the first FedEx Cup playoff event. With the win, Matsuyama rose five spots in the FedEx Cup standings to claim the No. 3 spot behind Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.
Matsuyama’s spot at next week’s Tour Championship is secure if he can play.
Breaking down Matsuyama’s season
The injury is a tough blow for Matsuyama, who has been finishing what could be argued the best season of his career. Or at least his best since 2017. Yes, this season has been about Scheffler, Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, but Matsutyama is likely in that fourth spot.
After two years of injury issues, Matsuyama has thrived at top-tier events. He broke through with a Sunday 62 to win the Genesis Invitational in February — maybe the biggest non-Players Championship event on the tour schedule — and earned bronze at the Olympics before his win last week at St. Jude, another FedEx Cup tournament. All this on top of sixth place finishes at the U.S. Open and the Players. With how good he looked Thursday, I wondered if he could break through and win the Tour Championship.
He still can, if he returns healthy. It just stings to be unable to see how great Matsuyama’s run could have become. Others like Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland have gotten hot in August to run away with the cup, and Matsuyama had a chance to be next. — Brody Miller, golf writer
Required reading
(Photo: Steve Roberts / USA Today)
