It’s been an eventful year for Hideki Matsuyama thus far and we’re only 1.25 tournaments in. After a red-hot 35 under at The Sentry—featuring a PGA Tour-record, 33 birdies—Matsuyama has kept things interesting at the Sony Open … especially for the fans.

On the gettable 517-yard par-5 9th hole, Matsuyama started things off with one of his signature moves: the club-toss follow-through. Unfortunately this time, his driver soared toward the gallery and two women had to jump out of the way. Matsuyama immediately sprinted over to make sure everyone was OK. Luckily, everyone was just fine … even if the 2021 Masters champ eventually took back his “souvenir.”

Hideki Matsuyama’s driver FLEW off his hands on the 9th tee. 😳

📺 Golf Channel | @SonyOpenHawaii pic.twitter.com/38MkwIv3Ua

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 10, 2025

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“Whoa!” Dan Hicks exclaimed. “The club’s across the ropes there, Bones. Hope everybody’s alright.

“Matsuyama, if you watch him play golf, he does this all the time. Takes his hand off the club. This time just lost both hands off the club and that thing did a little cartwheel across the rope.”

Despite his status as a major champ and one of the best golfers in the world, this is far from the first flying-club incident for Matsuyama, especially when he’s disappointed with a shot. The PGA Tour even has a video on YouTube titled “Typical Hideki Matsuyama club drop.” Now usually, things don’t get this interactive for the fans and thankfully, this is now a fun anecdote instead of a black eye.

You might be wondering how the rest of the hole went and of course, it was hectic. Soon after, Matsuyama (unintentionally!) hit his ball through an 8-inch gap in palm trees landing just short of the green. Then, there was an up and down for birdie requiring an eight-foot putt. He ultimately finished the first round at three under in a 17-way tie for 26th place. This is easily the most exciting hole of the season so far. We’ll see if anything tops it over the next 11 or so months.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com