A spectator received a stray bullet… under his polo shirt after he was fired at a tee by Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama on Friday at the PGA Northern Trust Championship in suburban New York.
The 29-year-old golfer, the first Japanese to win a major in April in Augusta, stands behind this stunning shot on the 10th hole at Liberty National in Jersey City, NJ, in the second round of this tournament.
Matsuyama watched his ball soar, drift away from its target, make a high bounce to rest under a spectator’s polo shirt and then run down a paved road.
The man immediately froze. There is no doubt about distorting the game by moving the ball which has to stay in place.
“The bullet passed between my legs, touched my knee and rolled under my head,” one fan, still motionless, said on TV while waiting for the writer of this stray bullet.
Matsuyama arrived with an incredible smile on his face, and studied the situation before landing on the spectator’s right-footed tee, over the ball, to determine the spot.
Only then did the viewer feel entitled to move. He lifted his polo shirt and the ball ended up on its side to the laughter of the other onlookers.
Matsuyama put his signature on the mischievous ball to show to a spectator and continued his course by tricking the hole, finishing five in a row.
The Japanese went on with three birds, another ghost, and a double ghost to return a 68 card with three blows below par. He is 25th in the standings at the end of the second round, 7 strokes behind Spanish leader John Ram.
