Injured Hideki Matsuyama Forced Out Of BMW Championship

Hideki Matsuyama was forced to withdraw from the BMW Championship after injuring his back in his warm-up for Friday's second round

Hideki Matsuyama
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Paul Higham
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A lower back problem has forced Hideki Matsuyama to withdraw from the BMW Championship just ahead of the second round in Colorado.

The Japanese golfer shot a five-under 67 at Castle Pines Golf Club to sit just a shot behind leader Keegan Bradley after the first round, but suffered back pain while warming up for round two on Friday morning.

The former Masters champion came into the event in great form after winning the FedEx St Jude Championship last week, and after a fine start was a favourite to contend again.

But after warming up, he said the back pain he felt made it "impossible to play" in the second round, so was forced to withdraw from the tournament.

"I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the BMW Championship after experiencing lower back discomfort while warming up this morning, which made it impossible to play today," Matsuyama said in a statement.

"Thank you to BMW and the Western Golf Association for a great experience here at Castle Pines."

Matsuyama teed off at Castle Pines in third place in the FedEx Cup standings, with only Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler ahead of him.

Winning the first FedEx Cup Playoffs event last week gave him an added bump up the standings, after previously winning the Genesis Invitational back in February.

The full extent of his injury has not been disclosed, but despite withdrawing from the BMW Championship, Matsuyama will still be able to play in next week's Tour Championship if he is fit.

His place in the standings is secure enough that even with collecting no points this week he'll still be in the top 30 that will make it to the final event at East Lake.

The timing of the injury is still a concern for Matsuyama though, with not only the Tour Championship coming up next week but also the President's Cup on the horizon next month.

Matsuyama is set to be one of the International Team's leaders and he was obviously in a rich vein of form when you throw in the bronze medal he won at the 2024 Paris Olympics before then going on to win the St Jude.

Paul Higham
Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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