Hideki Matsuyama hits a shot on Saturday on the 8th hole at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
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Ahead of this week’s Zozo Championship, Hideki Matsuyama, rated his play, on a scale of 1-10, a one. “Ball striking, putting, chipping, all of these have not reached the level I want. If my game scored 10 out of 10 at the Masters, now I would say it scores less than one. I will be struggling this week, but I am here in Japan so I am motivated to be in contention.” While Matsuyama is known to be his toughest critic, it’s safe to say his golf has ticked up a few pegs. Here are three things you need to know after Saturday’s third round at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan.
Matsuyama is still at one, but in the best way. He followed rounds of six-under 64 and two-under 68 with another 68 and leads by a shot over Cameron Tringale after 54 holes.
Under breezy conditions, Matsuyama birdied the 363-yard, par-4 2nd hole, bogeyed the 191-yard, par-3 5th after hitting his tee shot into the water, then birdied the 587-yard, par-5 6th, the 486-yard, par-4 9th and the 183-yard, par-3 16th. But on the 562-yard, par-5 18, with a three-shot lead, he bogeyed while Tringale birdied.
“I’ll win if I play well and lose if I don’t,” Matsuyama said. “I’ve been playing good golf these past three days, so hopefully I can do the same tomorrow.”
Tringale, winless on the PGA Tour after 12 years as a professional, played his front nine at even par, then birdied the 486-yard, par-4 11th and the 18th, on a 3-foot putt. Sebastian Munoz, Brendan Steele and Matt Wallace are three back of Tringale and four behind Matsuyama.
“Overall happy with the day,” Tringale said. “It was really tricky out there with the wind, and as fast as the greens and everything, it was not an easy day out there, so two-under, pretty good score. Yeah, just got to move on when you get a tough gust or something, and I was able to do that, so pleased with the day.”
Tringale was also asked what he needed to do Sunday.
“Don’t know, just don’t know the future,” he said.
Collin Morikawa admits he hit a shank
Collin Morikawa, six back of Matsuyama, was in the middle of the fairway on the 6th, then wasn’t, his ball rocketing toward the trees, and he’d bogey the hole.
We’ll let him describe what happened.
“Yeah, shanked a pitching wedge straight in the trees,” Morikawa said. “So really good way to start the day after being one-under through five.
“Yeah, it was kind of a grind. I really had no clue where the ball was going to go. I was kind of just trying to make contact, and thankfully the putting was working today.”
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
