SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Hideki Matsuyama stood on the first playoff tee at TPC Scottsdale, needing one good swing to keep his championship hopes alive. For a player who had somehow survived 11 missed fairways in regulation through brilliant scrambling and an otherworldly short game, it seemed almost fitting that his fate would come down to one more test off the tee.

The test, as it turned out, was one he couldn’t pass.

After a distraction in the crowd caused him to back off his first attempt, Matsuyama re-addressed his ball and pulled his tee shot left — directly into the water hazard that guards the left side of the 18th fairway. The wayward drive, following a similar miss in regulation that led to a closing bogey, sealed a bitter playoff defeat and denied the two-time champion a third WM Phoenix Open title.

“I wanted to avoid the playoff as much as I could, but I just hit a bad tee shot there in regulation at 18,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter, his disappointment palpable despite the measured words.

It was a cruel ending to a tournament that Matsuyama had controlled for much of Sunday afternoon, and a stark reminder that precision off the tee still matters — even when everything else is working.

A Round of Survival

Matsuyama’s final round was a study in controlled chaos. The Japanese star missed his first fairway at the opening hole and wouldn’t find another until the back nine was well underway. By the time he completed his round, he had found just seven of 18 fairways — a statistic that, in any normal week, would doom a player to a finish outside the top 20.

But this was not a normal week, and Matsuyama is not a normal player.

Despite the wayward driving, Matsuyama somehow made the turn at 2-under for his round, extending his lead to two shots over the chasing pack. His secret? An absolutely elite scrambling display that saw him get up-and-down from seemingly impossible positions time and time again.

At the par-3 7th, his tee shot found a greenside bunker in an awkward position. Most players would have been happy to walk away with bogey. Matsuyama splashed out to three feet and calmly rolled in the par putt.

At the par-4 9th, after missing another fairway, he was left with an awkward angle into the green from the rough. His approach came up short in heavy grass, but once again, a deft chip and a clutch putt saved par.

“I felt like I was in control even though I wasn’t hitting fairways,” Matsuyama said. “My wedge game was really good today, and that kept me in it.”

The Shot of the Tournament

If Matsuyama’s round had a signature moment, it came at the par-5 13th hole — and it was a shot that, for a brief moment, made it seem like destiny was on his side.

After missing yet another fairway, Matsuyama faced a daunting second shot from 240 yards with the pin tucked back right on the green. Most players would have laid up, especially given the difficulty of holding the green from such a distance with an awkward lie.

Matsuyama, ever the aggressive player, pulled out a fairway wood and took aim.

The ball started well right of the green, looking for all the world like it was headed for the greenside bunker or worse. But as it reached its apex, the ball began to turn — first slightly, then dramatically — carving a beautiful right-to-left shape that brought it back toward the flag.

The ball landed softly on the green, about 20 feet from the hole, and settled. The gallery erupted, and Matsuyama allowed himself a small smile as he walked toward the green.

“That was probably the best shot I hit all day,” Matsuyama admitted. “I needed to be aggressive there, and it worked out.”

He would convert the eagle putt, no — a two-putt birdie moved him to 17-under and gave him a two-shot cushion with five holes to play. For a moment, it seemed like Matsuyama was cruising to victory.

The Wheels Begin to Wobble

The first crack in Matsuyama’s armor came at the par-3 16th, the most famous hole in tournament golf. With over 20,000 fans crammed into the stadium seating surrounding the 163-yard one-shotter, Matsuyama faced a tee shot that was equal parts golf shot and nerve test.

His 7-iron came up just short of the green, settling in a greenside bunker in a relatively decent lie. But the sand shot came out too firm, rolling 15 feet past the hole and leaving a difficult downhill putt for par.

The par putt never had a chance, sliding by the right edge, and Matsuyama tapped in for bogey. Just like that, his two-shot lead was cut to one, and the pressure was mounting.

“The 16th is always tough,” Matsuyama said. “You try to block out the noise, but it’s hard. I just didn’t execute the bunker shot the way I wanted to.”