Massive meltdown

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Chris Gotterup won the PGA Tour Phoenix Open on Sunday, topping Hideki Matsuyama with a birdie at the first playoff hole as the Japanese major-winner found the water just moments after surrendering the outright lead at the 72nd hole.

Gotterup, who started the day four shots behind third-round leader Matsuyama, fired nine birdies in a seven-under par 64 at TPC Scottsdale, picking up five shots in the last six holes to post a 16-under total of 268.

Matsuyama, meanwhile, endured a nervy round in which he hit just three of 14 fairways but arrived at the 72nd hole in the lead at 17-under.

His waywardness finally caught up with him, as he was in the church pews bunker left the fairway on the way to his first bogey of the day.

That saw him close with a three-under par 68 and join Gotterup on 268, and when they returned to 18 for the playoff Matsuyama was left again and in the water.

Gotterup drilled a long birdie to seal his first PGA Tour playoff win and his second title of 2026 after a triumph at the Sony Open in Hawaii last month.

Gotterup had put himself in position to strike with a late surge that included birdies at 13, 14 and 15 and another pair at 17 and 18 — where his shot out of the right rough left him a three-foot birdie putt.

"I knew I needed to make birdie on 18 but you never know," Gotterup said.

"Hideki was playing great, 17 is birdieable but there's also some danger out there.”

"I just figured I would stay loose. I didn't think this would happen, especially after Friday and Saturday but here we are," added Gotterup, who launched his week with an impressive 63 but lost ground with a second-round 71 and third-round 70.

Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters Champion and a two-time winner in Phoenix, had four birdies and had fended off multiple challenges before his final swoon.

"It's disappointing, a shock," Matsuyama admitted, adding he'd "just get back up on the horse next week.”

"(I) was grinding all weekend," he said. "Didn't have my best stuff but hung in there."

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler came up short in his bid for another epic Phoenix Open comeback and American Michael Thorbjornsen was unable to hang on after briefly taking the lead with an eagle at 15, bogeying the next two.

Scheffler and Thorbjornsen were part of a five-way tie for third on 15-under 269, where they were joined by Akshay Bhatia, Kim Si-woo and Nicolai Hojgaard.

Scheffler, who won the 2022 Phoenix Open after trailing by nine after 36 holes, started the day five off the pace but managed to put some pressure on with his bogey-free seven-under par 64.