Every year, the Waste Management Phoenix Open is a massive spectacle in the world of golf. The players love it because it's different. It is unlike anything the rest of the PGA Tour offers, and at its heart is how fans react across the board. However, the story of this year's tournament was Hideki Matsuyama choking down the stretch and losing to Chris Gotterup in a playoff.
Hideki Matsuyama had surged into the lead of the tournament on Saturday and had to hold off runs from Scottie Scheffler and Michael Thorbjornsen on Sunday before getting caught by Gotterup. The deciding factor seemed to be Matsuyama backing off from the first playoff hole after hearing a loud noise right as he was about to swing. It turned out to be the staff dropping a chair.
Matsuyama yanked his follow-up left, which ricocheted off a pole and into the water. Soon after, Gotterup sank a 27-footer for birdie to clinch the 2026 WM Phoenix Open title. Still, fans were left wondering what happened in the moment, before it quickly got to social media that security dropped a chair right as he was about to swing. It was a brutal stretch for Matsuyama.
Overall, Matsuyama struggled with his driver throughout his final round, hitting just three fairways as Gotterup birdied five of his last six to force overtime. Matsuyama got away with it through 18 holes on Sunday, but 19 proved to be one too many in the playoff.
That loud noise was not even the first interruption that Matsuyama dealt with on the back nine. It came as he stood over a 25-foot par save that would’ve won him the tournament outright. The scream prompted Matsuyama to step away and look back in displeasure. After others in the crowd could be heard shaming the culprit, Matsuyama stepped back in and missed to the right.
Gotterup shot a closing 64, and after Matsuyama bogeyed the final hole of regulation, the American clinched victory with a birdie on the first extra hole. The 26-year-old now has four PGA Tour wins and is a rising star.
