COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Master’s champion, was disqualified from the first round of the Memorial on Thursday for having an illegal substance in the face of his 3-wood.
PGA Tour chief referee Steve Rintoul said the tour became aware of the problem after someone emailed a photo of the 3-wood that had been posted on Instagram. Rintoul said rules officials were immediately dispatched to find Matsuyama, who was playing the first hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Matsuyama was asked if he was carrying a club and if he had used it. He told them he had used it to get out of the first hole. Rintoul said a white concealer was applied to the club’s face to help Matsuyama center the ball.
“The damage was done,” Rintoul said. “A shot and it’s a disqualification.”
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Rintoul later met with Matsuyama on Fifth Street and told him to keep playing, while consulting with USGA rules officials about whether he was playing for a non-compliant club.
Rules officials determined that Matsuyama had violated the team’s standard rule, Rule 4.a. (3) of the Golf Rules, which states that “a player shall not strike a performance characteristics that have been deliberately changed during the round. ” Under the Golf Rules, an infraction may occur “using an adjustable function or physically changing the club” or “applying any substance to the head of the club (other than cleaning it) to affect performance when hitting “.
“No substance or treatment can be applied to the face of a club that could influence the flight of the ball, the turn, the loft or anything on the ball, the performance of the ball,” Rintoul said.
“Then, at that time, was the amount of this substance in the face of the club? And the images were condemnatory … There was a lot of white. It looks a lot like a white that you can use on a piece of paper. at home. A bleached substance that was very much on the club’s face and that really is very clear in the rules of the equipment that is not allowed. “
Matsuyama was informed of his disqualification by a rules officer while on duty. It was 2 more after nine holes. It was the first disqualification of his career on the PGA Tour.
Matsuyama declined to comment.
“The team’s rules are very specific: it’s okay to have very small discrete marks on the face for alignment purposes, like a Sharpie point here and there, that won’t affect the ball,” Rintoul said. “But that amount of substance is clearly above what the rules of the team allow. If the paint had fallen into the slots and the bottom of the slots where it is not on the face, without coming into contact with the ball, again, no problem “.
Rintoul said one of Matsuyama’s team members had been warned earlier not to put any substance on the club’s face. Rintoul recalled what happened to Matsuyama’s driver in the past. Rintoul said one of the team members told him Thursday that he believed the rule only applied to drivers.
“I will say it was a mistake on his behalf,” Rintoul said.