JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - Top-ranked International team member Hideki Matsuyama acknowledged on Friday that he has not carried his weight in the first two days at the Presidents Cup.
Matsuyama, ranked third in the world, has gone off the boil since he finished tied for fifth at the U.S. PGA Championship in August and has no ideas why.
“I wish I knew why I haven’t been playing well,” Matsuyama said after he and Canadian partner Adam Hadwin halved their four-ball match against Americans Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
Matsuyama said that Hadwin had carried him on the back nine, as the International duo surrendered a two-up lead over the final four holes.
“Yesterday I drove it well but today I was all over the place,” said Matsuyama, who lost his foursomes match on Thursday with Charl Schwartzel.
Matsuyama said he had cracked the face of his driver at the BMW Championship two weeks ago and had struggled with his tee shots ever since.
“Since then I’ve been trying to find another shaft and head to go together,” he said.
International captain Nick Price benched Matsuyama for the foursomes early on Saturday.
“I spoke to him this evening, and he just said, ‘my timing’s off,'” Price said.
”He said, ‘Adam played great today, and I kind of felt like I let him down a little bit because I hit a lot of loose shots and left him on his own a lot.’
“And when a player tells you that, he’s basically telling you, ‘sit me out tomorrow. That’s what we decided to do.'”
Editing by Greg Stutchbury
