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2014 Memorial golf tournament results: Hideki Matsuyama outlasts Kevin Na, Bubba Watson on wild Sunday

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A 22-year-old phenom wins the Memorial, outlasting Bubba Watson and edging Kevin Na in a playoff after an inexplicable and wild final hour at the home of Jack Nicklaus.

It wasn't easy for Hideki Matsuyama, but after a bizarre final hour to the Memorial, which included the Japanese phenom breaking the head off his driver, the 22-year-old has his first win on the PGA Tour.

Matsuyama edged Kevin Na on the first playoff hole at Muirfield Village, rolling in a lengthy par putt on the 18th green to secure the victory. Over the past 12 to 15 months, it's become clear that Matsuyama is a future superstar. He's contended at almost every big event, including back-to-back top 10s at the 2013 U.S. Open and British Open, and it was only a matter of time before he got that first win. He probably played the best on the weekend last week at Colonial, but could not keep up late on Sunday with Adam Scott and Jason Dufner.

But this Sunday, he was right back at it and pushing 54-hole leader Bubba Watson early at the Memorial. He opened with back-to-back birdies, including a chip-in on the second hole to put the pressure on Bubba.

By the eighth hole, he'd have a share of the lead and go out in 4-under 32. But that's when things started to go off the rails for everyone, as the back nine wrecked the leaders' rounds coming into the clubhouse. For one brief moment, Matsuyama, Bubba and Adam Scott all held a share of the lead but Scott's bid to go back-to-back as the new world No. 1 ended with an embedded ball in the hazard at the 12th.

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Memorial Tournament 2014 Image may be NSFW.
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After going birdie-bogey-birdie, it would be Matsuyama's turn to come undone on the next par-3. At the 16th, his tee shot never had a chance and landed in the pond a good yard short of any grass. He'd make a double on the hole, but would catch a break because Bubba was behind him on the 15th driving it off the course and into someone's backyard, his golf ball becoming a new dog toy.

That misfire would lead to Bubba's own double bogey on a par-5, typically the holes where the bomber makes his moves on the field and cards easy birdies or eagles.

With Matsuyama and Watson imploding, it suddenly looked like Na, who had finished his round almost two hours earlier, might walk off with an improbable win. Na caught fire on Sunday, posting a remarkable 8-under 64 to get into the clubhouse early at 13-under. It was tough to see that number holding up, but he told CBS he'd wait around to see what happened in the final groups.

So Na went to the practice tee to warm up as the leaders kept dropping shots, but it looked like he might not even need to get warm because Matsuyama needed to make a birdie at the difficult 18th just to force a playoff. Matsuyama started the hole by losing the head of his driver, which didn't seem like a good omen for a player who might have extra holes to play.

But despite that reaction, he actually caught a fortunate bounce up ahead and his ball trickled into the fairway. Then the 22-year old dropped a dagger onto the 18th green, putting his approach shot to about 5 feet and cleaning up the birdie to force extra holes. Bubba would finish more shaky iron shots, carding three straight pars to fall a shot short.

In the playoff, both Na and Matsuyama were again wild off the tee on the 18th. Na, who was understandably nervous after waiting around forever, pulled one left and it bounced into a creek running up that side of the hole. Matsuyama, who had the option of putting a new driver in the bag, took a 3-wood and put it in a fairway bunker. To add to the madness, he would also plunk a fan with a wild second shot out of the sand, leaving dimple marks on her knee.

But he'd give himself a chance at par, and again on the 18th green, he stepped up and put it in the center of the cup for the win.

It was as wild and bizarre a final two hours as you get on the PGA Tour. The day started with Bubba Watson probably locking up Player of the Year honors, and finished with a tee ball off the property, multiple water balls, a broken driver, a 23-second cliffhanger putt, a plunked fan and a Matsuyama playoff win.

It was not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it was a fun finish for the second straight week on the PGA Tour, which needs some momentum after an underwhelming first half of the year. We hear so much about all the 30-and-under and 25-and-under Americans on the Tour, but Matsuyama might be the best young prospect in the world. His precision beat Bubba's wild creativity on Sunday, and this should be the first of many career highlights at tournaments all over the world. Expect to hear from him at Pinehurst and the U.S. Open next week.

Here are the final results from the weekend at Muirfield Village:

Place

Player

Score

1st Round

2nd Round

3rd Round

4th round

1

Hideki Matsuyama

-13

70

67

69

69

2

Kevin Na

-13

72

69

70

64

3

Bubba Watson

-12

66

69

69

72

T4

Chris Kirk

-10

66

70

74

68

T4

Adam Scott

-10

69

70

68

71

T6

Steve Stricker

-9

71

70

70

68

T6

Ben Curtis

-9

69

71

69

70

T8

Thorbjorn Olesen

-8

71

67

74

68

T8

Bill Haas

-8

73

67

72

68

T8

Luke Guthrie

-8

75

69

66

70

T8

Brendon Todd

-8

71

68

69

72

T8

Charl Schwartzel

-8

72

69

67

72

T13

Scott Brown

-7

70

69

71

71

T13

Paul Casey

-7

66

66

76

73

T15

Jason Allred

-6

74

68

74

66

T15

Matt Kuchar

-6

74

69

69

70

T15

Rory McIlroy

-6

63

78

69

72

T15

Billy Horschel

-6

71

69

68

74

T19

Charley Hoffman

-5

69

72

73

69

T19

Jim Furyk

-5

73

68

72

70

T19

Martin Flores

-5

69

68

75

71

T19

Jason Dufner

-5

71

69

71

72

T19

Ernie Els

-5

70

72

69

72

T19

Ryan Moore

-5

68

70

72

73

T19

Bo Van Pelt

-5

72

72

66

73

T19

Andrew Svoboda

-5

72

69

68

74

T19

Jordan Spieth

-5

69

72

67

75

T28

K.J. Choi

-4

73

71

72

68

T28

David Hearn

-4

71

73

69

71

T28

Robert Garrigus

-4

72

70

70

72

T28

Daniel Summerhays

-4

74

70

68

72

T28

Hunter Mahan

-4

68

70

73

73

T28

Brendon de Jonge

-4

73

69

69

73

T28

Kevin Stadler

-4

72

71

68

73

T28

Robert Streb

-4

72

67

69

76

T28

Scott Langley

-4

72

66

67

79

T37

Billy Hurley III

-3

73

70

74

68

T37

Michael Thompson

-3

67

76

72

70

T37

Justin Thomas

-3

73

68

72

72

T37

Aaron Baddeley

-3

69

74

70

72

T37

Cameron Tringale

-3

73

70

70

72

T37

Marc Leishman

-3

71

68

73

73

T37

Keegan Bradley

-3

67

75

70

73

T37

Camilo Villegas

-3

71

68

72

74

T37

Jason Day

-3

72

69

70

74

T46

Kevin Kisner

-2

69

72

76

69

T46

Dustin Johnson

-2

73

68

72

73

T46

Justin Hicks

-2

73

67

71

75

T49

Stewart Cink

-1

71

73

72

71

T49

Phil Mickelson

-1

72

70

72

73

T49

David Lingmerth

-1

72

72

70

73

T49

Luke Donald

-1

71

69

73

74

T49

Freddie Jacobson

-1

71

71

71

74

T49

Ben Martin

-1

72

72

65

78

T55

Michael Putnam

E

71

73

73

71

T55

Nick Watney

E

69

71

74

74

T57

Richard Lee

1

76

68

76

69

T57

Charles Howell III

1

69

75

71

74

T57

Gary Woodland

1

71

68

75

75

T57

Ryo Ishikawa

1

72

71

71

75

T57

Justin Leonard

1

68

75

68

78

T62

John Huh

2

73

70

75

72

T62

Carl Pettersson

2

72

72

73

73

T62

Kiradech Aphibarnrat

2

73

71

70

76

T65

Scott Stallings

3

72

71

77

71

T65

Josh Teater

3

71

72

76

72

T65

Carlos Ortiz

3

75

68

76

72

T65

Hyung-Sung Kim

3

70

72

76

73

T69

Lucas Glover

4

70

73

76

73

T69

Pat Perez

4

71

70

77

74

T69

Chris Stroud

4

74

68

74

76

T72

Greg Chalmers

5

71

72

75

75

T72

Mark Wilson

5

69

74

74

76

74

Kyle Stanley

10

74

68

80

76

T75

J.B. Holmes

11

67

75

81

76

T75

Gonzalo Fdez-Castano

11

73

70

79

77


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