Hideki Matsuyama disqualified from PGA event for illegal marking on club

The former champion Hideki Matsuyama was disqualified from the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio midway through his first round on Thursday due to an illegal marking on one of his clubs.

Matsuyama, who earned the first of his eight PGA Tour wins at the 2014 Memorial Tournament, was disqualified from the Jack Nicklaus-hosted event after painted lines were discovered on the face of his three wood.

It marked the first time the former Masters champion has been disqualified from a PGA Tour event.

The PGA Tour senior tournament director, Steve Rintoul, said images of the club were posted online and his team learned of them only after Matsuyama had used it on the first tee. Had he not used the club, he could have kept playing.

Hideki Matsuyama gets DQ’d for a marking on the face of his fairway wood. The