The putter switch that propelled Hideki Matsuyama to victory at the 2024 FedEx St Jude Championship – Australian Golf Digest

by Admin
August 18, 2024

Hideki Matsuyama is notorious for trying new putters but almost never putting a new one in play. That changed at the FedEx St Jude Championship.

Matsuyama brought six Scotty Cameron putters with him to Memphis of varying head styles, lofts, lengths and lie angles. He settled on a Scotty Cameron by Titleist Craftsman Squareback tour prototype blade and putted his way to the first leg of the PGA Tour playoffs, notching a two-stroke victory at TPC Southwind.

“I did put a new putter in the bag, and it’s been behaving very well,” Matsuyama said after the third round. “I’ve had the putter for a while, and I thought, Well, it might be a good week to debut that putter.”

A good week, indeed. Matsuyama came into the week ranked T-136 in strokes gained/putting (losing nearly a stroke a tournament to the field average) but turned things around in Memphis. He made four putts over 25 feet on the week, including a 38-footer on the eighth Sunday to regain a five-shot lead then added a 19-footer at the par-3 11th.

Then a vomit-fest ensued with Matsuyama losing his lead then regaining it with a 28-footer at the 17th. For the week he topped the field in strokes gained/putting, bettering the field average by nearly eight shots.

Matsuyama had other clubs that behaved as well, including his TaylorMade Qi10 3-wood that he used to set up birdies on the par-5 16th Friday and Saturday. His Srixon Z Forged II blades with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts were on the mark as well. For the week Matsuyama ranked T-4 in greens in regulation and ffith in strokes gained/approach, picking up nearly seven shots on the field.

It was the putter, however, that converted those chances, with Matsuyama ranking third in putts per green in regulation.

Like Matsuyama said, a good week to debut it.

The clubs Hideki Matsuyama had in the bag at the 2024 FedEx St Jude Championship

Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

Driver: Srixon ZX5 LS Mk II (Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX), 9.5 degrees

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10, 15 degrees

5-wood: Cobra King Radspeed Tour, 17.5 degrees

Irons (4-9): Srixon Z Forged II

Wedges: Cleveland RTX4 Forged prototype (48, 52, 56, 60 degrees)

Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist Craftsman Squareback tour prototype