We were treated to a dramatic finish at the 2016 Waste Management Phoenix Open. 23-year-old Hideki Matsuyama defeated Rickie Fowler on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff to win his second title on the PGA TOUR (first at The 2014 Memorial) while leading the field in strokes gained tee-to-green (plus 12.259) and greens in regulation (78 percent). He finished T2 last year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, runner-up to Brooks Koepka, so TPC Scottsdale definitely seems like a course he plays well at! Matsuyama is currently 12th in the world and has played well since joining the PGA TOUR. Though he didn’t win in 2015, he finished in the top five on six occasions and was fifth in the Masters and tied for 18th in both the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
Rickie Fowler missed a chance for his fifth worldwide win in nine months. He started his run in May at THE PLAYERS Championship, and won the Scottish Open the week before the Open Championship at St. Andrews. He then won the Deutsche Bank Championship in September and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour two weeks ago. Fowler broke down in tears in the media center after his playoff loss Sunday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, overcome by emotion talking about his family.
“This one hurts. The hard part is having all my friends and family and grandpa and my dad who haven’t seen me win,” Fowler said. “But I will be able to kind of hang with them tonight. I’ll be all right.”
Fowler had a two-shot lead on the 317-yard 17th in regulation, where he hit a driver nearly 360 yards over the green and into the water. Using a 3-wood in the playoff on 17 (the fourth and final playoff hole), he would pull his tee shot into the lake just short of the green. Of all of his starts at TPC Scottsdale, the 17th hole has really had Rickie’s number – he’s hit a total of nine balls into the water over his career at the course. It was definitely a tough loss for Fowler, but you can bet this will build up his character and he’ll learn from the experience, move forward and continue his winning ways soon.
Source: PGA Tour
