Hideki Matsuyama withdraws from PGA Tour's BMW Championship

Hideki Matsuyama has been forced to withdraw from the BMW Championship due to a back injury. 

The 31-year-old carded an entertaining opening round of 71 at Olympia Fields which contained five birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey.

Yet that was considerably off the early pace set by World No.2 Rory McIlroy and reigning Open champion Brian Harman. 

Matsuyama withdrew before the second round, according to the official PGA Tour communications team. 

A statement read:

Matsuyama has had what can be described as a frustrating season. It is not only a back injury that is causing the golfer issues but he has also had trouble with his neck. 

Those problems saw Matsuyama withdraw from the Houston Open last November. He has also skipped numerous events, citing injuries. 

Hideki Matsuyama is a WD prior to the second round of the BMW Championship with a back injury. Matsuyama had qualified for the TOUR Championship in each of the last nine seasons, the longest active streak of any player.

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 18, 2023

He has missed four cuts in the calendar year. His best result in the majors came when he tied for 13th at the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool. 

Matsuyama finished T-16 at the 87th Masters, T-29 at the PGA Championship and T-32 at the U.S. Open. 

In January Matsuyama spoke of the frustration of the persistent injuries, saying:

More PGA Tour news:

• Reigning Open champ slams Lucas Glover headline: "A ridiculous thing to say!"
• Lucas Glover on Matt Wallace comment: "For him to say that, it means a lot"
• BMW Championship 2023 prize money: How much they are playing for

As mentioned, Matsuyama will now miss next week's grand finale at East Lake. Only the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings will participate in the $75m prize purse event. 

Matsuyama came into the BMW Championship ranked 50th and needing a big result to advance to East Lake. 

Watched our latest YouTube video?

More news!