Getty Image / Mike Mulholland/MANDEL NGAN/AFP
Hideki Matsuyama made major moves in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings by winning the first leg of the playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, where he earned 2,000 FedEx Cup points and moved from 8th in points to 3rd, only trailing Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffeler.
Firstly, the fact that Hideki Matsuyama won without his caddie and his coach is incredible. Coming back from the Paris Olympics where Hideki won a bronze medal for Japan the three of them were robbed in London on their way Memphis. Thankfully, the thieves didn’t steal Hidek’s passport or his bronze medal from Paris and he was able to compete in Memphis and win. Meanwhile, his coach and his caddie were stuck in London awaiting rush ordered passport replacements.
So without his normal caddie and his coach, the familiar faces with him at every tournament, he went on to win $3.6 million and 2,000 FedEx Cup points which will be crucial headed to the Tour Championship at East Lake GC in Atlanta. But Hideki wasn’t able to celebrate Sunday’s win until Monday for a reason that is incredibly relatable to many of us.
Matsuyam talked about it during his post-round winner’s press conference:
Waiting until Monday to celebrate with Chick-Fil-A 🐓 pic.twitter.com/kkt66qcmHG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 19, 2024
I don’t about you bros but the one day each week I find myself craving Chick-fil-a the most is Sunday, the one day I cannot get it. Hideki Matsuyama said he had Chick-fil-a on Saturday night and planned on celebrating Sunday’s win with more Chick-fil-a on Monday, which is just hilarious to think that this guy who just won $3.6 million has to sit idly by and wait for his fast-food celebration on Monday morning, when the food will be freshest, like the rest of us.
This Hideki story also sparked a debate among the BroBible staff. There seemed to be agreement among several of us that Chick-fil-a has become it’s own entity within the fried chicken world. I don’t compare Chick-fil-a to Popeye’s or Guthrie’s or Zaxby’s, etc. Chick-fil-a is 1-of-1 to me as I get both the nuggets and a sandwich. And if I’m going for straight fried chicken I’ll probably opt for Publix fried chicken over Popeye’s because Publix just does it right, and the same can be said for their tenders. But if I were outside of the South I’m not sure I’d make those same decisions.
After picking up some Chick-fil-a, Hideki Matsuyama will head to the BMW Championship at Castle Pines GC in Castle Rock, Colorado. The winner will take home 2,000 FedEx Cup points and $3.6 million. Scottie Scheffler leads the field with 6,533 points followed by Xander Schauffele at 5,037 and Hideki with 3,899. So a win would take Hideki past Xander but the would still be trailing Scottie Scheffler going into East Lake GC.