DUBLIN, Ohio – Hideki Matsuyama was disqualified from the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday for using a non-compliant club, in violation of Rule 4.c (3 of the team rules).
Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed, the other members of the group, let themselves be played as two.
The modification in question was a liquid paper-like substance on the face of Matsuyama’s wood 3. One of his teams had applied it as an aid to the line-up, but it kept the club from adjusting, as it could have changed the turn and other flight characteristics of the ball.
“Don’t paint the face of your clubs,” Chief Referee Steve Rintoul said. “You can have a Sharpie mark for alignment, but that substance is above what the rules allow.”
An online image of the club caught the attention of Rules officials shortly after Matsuyama was due to play at 1 p.m. Matsuyama could have avoided disqualification if he had only been leading the club, but when an officer found him on the second tee, he said he had used him on the first.
“He was very honest and direct about it,” Rintoul said.
But the damage was done, if the club was not in fact. Rintoul met with Matsuyama in the fifth hole, took photos of Wood 3 and told the Japanese star to continue playing while the committee met and even consulted with the staff standards team. USGA.