Hideki Matsuyama WDs from BMW Championship with back injury

Hideki Matsuyama has been arguably the hottest player in the world in August.

Less than three weeks ago, the 32-year-old claimed a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. Then he was robbed — literally (!) — and won his next tournament, last week’s FedEx St. Jude, launching him all the way to third on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points list.

And after one round at this week’s BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado, Matsuyama was in second place after firing a five-under 67 on Thursday.

But before teeing off in Round 2, Matsuyama abruptly withdrew from the tournament, citing a lower back injury.

Luckily for Matsuyama, the withdrawal will not affect his current FedEx Cup points standing. The best he could have done this week would have been to catch the second-ranked player, Xander Schauffele. Matsuyama is currently projected to remain in third, even after receiving zero points for this week’s tournament.

Scottie Scheffler is the top-ranked player in the playoffs field, and Schauffele would need a win this week to overtake him. Only the top 30 players from the FedEx Cup points list will move on to next week’s PGA Tour season finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake.

While missing out on the $3.6 million winner’s share of this week’s $20 million purse when you’re in contention is sure to sting a bit for Matsuyama, the desire to be fully healthy for next week’s Tour Championship is understandable. At East Lake, the winner will pocket a whopping $25 million.