Hideki Matsuyama cautiously optimistic ahead of Players C’ship

Former Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama believes he has “found something” to turn his fortunes around going into the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week.

An eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, the 31-year-old Matsuyama takes an indifferent recent record into the $25 million showpiece at Sawgrass that include two missed cuts in succession and only one top-10 to show for through the season.

After failing to make the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Matsuyama hit the practice range looking to set his game in order, especially his driver as he ranks a lowly 130th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee.

“I practiced right away,” Matsuyama, currently 90th on the FedEx Cup points list, told the PGA Tour. “I feel like I’ve found something to focus on, but I’m still figuring out how exactly to make that happen.”

Matsuyama is currently tied with 2011 Players champion K.J. Choi of Korea as the Asian golfer with the most wins on the PGA Tour. The 2021 Masters Tournament winner, is also keen to increase his tally, his last title coming at the Sony Open in Hawaii early last year.

“I think we are getting closer on what we were working on over the weekend,” said Matsuyama of the work he has put in with his coach Mikihito Kuromiya. “Whether or not those changes will produce results or I can hit the ball the way I want to hit it, that will take some time.

“We also talk about the condition of my neck and how to put as little stress on it as possible. With the Masters quickly approaching, I’d like to start producing some better results.”

At Sawgrass, the 31-year-old has a better than average record on the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course with pas finishes of tied seventh and eighth in 2016 and 2019 besides three other top-25s. In 2020, he had a course-record equalling nine-under 63 in the first round but the tournament was cancelled with the onset of Covid-19.

In 2022, he was forced to withdraw before the event began due to a neck injury which has since lingered over the past year.

“This is the PGA Tour’s flagship event and the biggest tournament outside the majors. I am excited to play,” he said. “One strength is not enough here and you need to be good at everything to win on this golf course, so I will do my best to win.

“If you’re struggling to keep it straight off the tee, it will be tough. It's also playing very quick on and around the greens. If you can avoid the rough, I think it should be a pretty fun test.”

This week’s field includes 44 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and 29 of the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings.