Hideki Matsuyama disqualified from Memorial, first DQ of his career

Hideki Matsuyama turned professional in 2013, and until Thursday at the Memorial he had never been disqualified from a tournament on the PGA Tour.

Matsuyama was approached by tournament officials as he walked off the ninth green in the middle of his first round and was informed he was being disqualified because of an illegal marking on the face of his 3-wood.

The club had white paint on the face near the impact area, bringing rule 4-3(a) in to play, which states:

(3) Deliberately Changing Club’s Performance Characteristics During Round

·    By applying any substance to the clubhead (other than in cleaning it) to affect how it performs in making a stroke.

Full-field scores from the Memorial Tournament

Had the markings only been inside the grooves of the club, it would have been deemed conforming. It was the paint on the actual face of the club, outside the grooves, that triggered the disqualification.

Matsuyama’s early exit leaves Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed to play the back nine Thursday – and Friday’s round – as a twosome.

Matsuyama was 3 over through nine holes before the disqualification.