In a game like golf, where you’re aiming for a tiny hole while relying solely on your naked eyesight. One of the most crucial elements to succeed on the greens becomes – concentration. Coaches and players are well aware of this, which is why their training often focuses on building up that level of focus. Take Tiger Woods for instance. The legend endured some intense training sessions with his father, Earl Woods, when it came to improving his focus. Earl would throw anything and everything near him to distract Woods, ultimately preparing him for the bigger challenges. Now, what if a player’s focus is disrupted intentionally?

Yes, according to the reports, this kind of incident was recently observed on the greens. And the victim was none other than the 10X PGA Tour winner, Hideki Matsuyama. The situation occurred at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last year. The championship features the top 70 players in the standings at the end of the regular season. It’s considered one of the crucial ones as only 50 of those players move on to the following week’s BMW Championship. However, the distractors seemed much aware of the pros, and their actions didn’t only irritate the PGA Tour pro, but also filled his fans with rage. 

To one’s surprise, all of this happened right in the 3rd round. Matsuyama was playing well, but on the 7th hole, he accidentally stepped on a pitch mark near his ball. This seemingly minor incident turned into a significant disruption when, on the 12th hole, the PGA Tour’s head referee Gary Young approached him to discuss the possibility of him cheating. It was suggested that Matsuyama may have inadvertently improved his lie, which could have led to a potential breach of Rule 8.1 under the Rules of Golf. Something that states a golfer can’t deliberately make conditions more favorable for their stroke. 

Can you imagine? While he’s trying to stay focused, a referee interrupted to discuss whether he broke a rule by stepping on a mark that might help his shot. Fortunately, after reviewing the situation, it was confirmed that no wrongdoing had occurred. The 32-year-old was allowed to continue without any penalty, but the damage was already done. The timing and nature of the interruption raised eyebrows among his followers.

Fans were bottled up with sadness, as they believed that the interruption was made intentionally to distract the star.  One of his fans even said, “Matsuyama has not been the same golfer since the confrontation. If he loses, they stole this from him with ra–sm and bigotry by upsetting his winning game with intimidation. The other golfers had the course to contend with. He had the officials too. Just wrong!”

Luckily, despite the distraction, Matsuyama managed to regain his composure, pocketing a cool £2.7 million! But this wasn’t the only time he faced difficulty near his winning zone, he has been challenged at some of the most prestigious events, including the Olympics.

Hideki Matsuyama was just an inch away from losing his Olympic bronze

It looks like Hideki Matsuyama’s winning challenges have some history. Apart from the recent incident at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, he faced a challenge right after winning a bronze medal at the Olympics in Paris last year.

Matsuyama, all pumped up from his Olympic win, headed to Memphis to compete. He got a new putter in hand and was being accompanied by his stand-in caddie, Taiga Tabuchi. While enjoying a dinner out, Matsuyama, his coach, and his regular caddie, Shota Hayafuji, fell victim to a robbery that left them without their things. Imagine enjoying a nice meal when suddenly everything changes. Matsuyama’s wallet got stolen, but thankfully, his Olympic bronze medal was safe and sound. Unfortunately, Shota and his coach weren’t as lucky. They lost their passports in the theft and had to fly back to Japan to sort things out.

Matsuyama recounted the experience through an interpreter, saying, “At first, we had no idea what was going on. Shota was the first to realize his bag was gone, and then it hit us all like a ton of bricks. It was incredibly frustrating, and everything felt so sudden.” He continued, “While it was an unfortunate situation, I was fortunate to only lose my wallet. Shota and my coach had to deal with the loss of their passports, so we’re working tirelessly to get their visas all set. We just hope they can join me soon so we can be a team again.”

This experience highlights how unpredictable life can be, even for a top athlete like Matsuyama!