"The ghost of 2022 Will Zalatoris" - Fans react to Hideki Matsuyama's shock withdrawal from the BMW Championship

After a victory at the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship, Hideki Matsuyama was well-positioned to compete at the 2024 BMW Championship. In Round 1 of the tournament at the Castle Pines Golf Club, Matsuyama finished second behind round leader Keegan Bradley.

However, he shocked fans when he withdrew from Round 2 of the BMW Championship. Matsuyama cited an injury to his back as the reason behind his withdrawal. Since this announcement was made, social media reacted to the same in different ways.

One fan compared Hideki Matsuyama's situation to Will Zalatoris' situation in 2022 which saw the latter withdraw from the BMW Championship due to a back injury in Round 3. The fan wrote:

Another fan labeled Matsuyama as an "unprofessional golfer." The fan wrote:

Let us take a look at more reactions:

"Hideki was one of the golfers who got me into this game but I don't know if I can forgive him. I'm counting on you, fantasy golf is why I watch the sport. You have 6 rds of golf till your off season. This is beyond pathetic and soft. Just ruined the entire szn for me. Done w/pga," a fan wrote.

"Hideki withdrawing every time he gets a cramp is ridiculous," another fan wrote.

"Ouch…. he was well on his way to winning at all potentially, this has got to be serious," wrote another fan.

"Scotty played through back pain. I think we know who the real man is. I just," wrote a fan.

Matsuyama's withdrawal comes as a major disappointment because the golfer was in exceptional form recently. After securing a bronze medal for Japan in the 2024 Olympics, Matsuyama achieved first place at the FedEx St. Jude Championship which made him a favorite to win the BMW Championship.

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How has Hideki Matsuyama's performance been in 2024?

The 2024 season has been a mixed one for Hideki Matsuyama. While the Japanese golfer started the year with some not-so-favorable results, he managed to quickly turn things around and found exceptional form ever since he arrived in Paris for the 2024 Olympics.

Matsuyama started the year with a 58th-place finish at The Sentry. While Matsuyama achieved a top-20 (T13) finish at the Farmers Insurance Open immediately, his first victory on the PGA Tour came at The Genesis Invitational where he scored 69-68-68-62 to win the tournament.

After this win, Matsuyama went on to register several top-20 and top-10 finishes but had to wait for the Olympics to win something big. At the games in Paris, Matsuyama won a bronze medal, and he continued this momentum by winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

The exceptional season Hideki Matsuyama has been having is unfortunately marred by an injury to his back.