Monday Leaderboard: No caddie, no problem for Hideki Matsuyama in FedEx Cup playoffs

Welcome to the Monday Leaderboard, where we run down the weekend’s top stories in the wonderful world of golf. Grab an Arnold Palmer, pull up a chair, and hold on tight for playoff season…

No caddie, no problem for Hideki

Golf has the strangest season structure in all of sports. Consider: the sport’s four most important tournaments take place over roughly a 100-day period from April to July. That leaves 250-or-so days for other tournaments, including the current FedEx Cup Playoffs. And while the playoffs don’t have the cachet of the majors, they do offer a substantial paycheck. What would you rather have, a green jacket or $18 million for winning the playoffs? (If you’re Scottie Scheffler, the answer is, “both.”)

The first round of the playoffs took place last weekend in Memphis, and Hideki Matsuyama triumphed, though not without a bit of drama both before and during his round. On their way from Paris to Memphis after Matsuyama won the Olympic bronze medal — you know, standard stuff —- his caddie and coach had their passports stolen, which meant they couldn’t follow him into the United States. Using a stand-in caddie, Matsuyama then went out and staked himself to a five-shot lead on Sunday before nearly completely blowing it … and then rallying for two birdies on the final two holes to take the first playoff stop by a stroke. Whew. Hideki might be longing for a routine round after this.

Scottish dominance for Coughlin

The LPGA is on its Scottish Open-Open Championship tilt these two weeks, and Lauren Coughlin is doing her best to make sure it’s as drama-free as possible. The American cruised to a four-stroke victory in the Scottish Open, her second victory in the last three weeks. Coughlin drained three birdies in the final five holes to keep Esther Henseleit of Germany — the Olympic silver medalist in Paris — in second place once again. Check out this beauty of a closing birdie:

Next up: the AIG Women’s Open at a little course called St. Andrews. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

Rahm & Koepka’s heavyweight LIV battle

There are plenty of reasons to bemoan golf’s ongoing split, but this weekend provided the most relevant one: Two of the game’s best went head-to-head all the way to a playoff … and almost nobody watched it. Jon Rahm, fresh off an Olympics collapse, couldn’t catch Brooks Koepka in a playoff in LIV Golf’s Greenbrier event, a heavyweight brawl that could and should have been so much bigger and better. Koepka has now won five times on the LIV tour, and considering that all unification talk has slowed to virtually nonexistent, it looks like he’ll have the opportunity to add to that total in 2025 and beyond.

Another Spanish star-to-be wins Amateur

For all the talent that’s come out of Spain — Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm — no Spanish player has been able to win the U.S. Amateur … until now. Josele Ballester needed every hole to hold off Noah Kent for the U.S. Am title, putting him in rare territory and guaranteeing him entry to three of the four majors next year (as long as he remains an amateur, of course). Ballester, who plays college golf at Arizona State (like Rahm and Phil Mickelson), had a 4up lead on Kent with six holes to play, but let that fall to 1up on the 17th. He steadied himself and went on to nab the biggest win of his career … so far.

End-of-season cut lines loom

Golf’s most fiendishly brilliant element is the cut line — you play well or you don’t get paid — and while cut lines have lost their luster in recent years (thanks, LIV), there’s still a heavy incentive to play well. The top 70 in FedEx Cup points played in Memphis, but only the top 50 made it to this week. And only the top 30 will make it to the Tour Championship. Max Homa, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott and Matt Fitzpatrick are among the big names who are going to need a strong week to continue onward. LIV has its own “drop zone,” where players outside the top 48 get “relegated” and need to play their way back onto the tour. Harold Varner III, Pat Perez, Branden Grace and Bubba Watson are lurking around the cut line. It’s not quite “relegation” in the soccer sense, but it’s still a little extra kick to incentivize players. Which is always helpful.

The Mulligan: We’ve all been there, Sam

You know how it goes — the bad shots pile up, and before long, someone or something has to pay. Sam Burns decided to dish out some punishment to his misbehaving driver on Saturday in Memphis, and this was the result:

A player can’t replace a club he damages, so Burns had to play the rest of the round without a driver. At least he didn’t completely tank himself; he finished T5 on the week and stands at 18th heading into this weekend, in good shape to make it to the Tour Championship. Hopefully with a full bag of clubs.

Swing away and roll ‘em true this week, friends, and we’ll see you back here next Monday!