Two swing interruptions in crunch time at WM Phoenix Open cost him a tournament

I don’t know about you, but when I get startled during my downswing, it gets embedded into my mind, and the next swing becomes hesitant, anticipating the interruption again. No matter how solid a player’s mental game is, they can’t help but wonder if it’s going to happen again. Then, it happened again.

Hideki had to step away from a winning putt on 18 during Sunday’s final round after a crowd disruption, then missed it. Then, during the playoff hole, another interruption came mid-backswing (staff dropping a chair) on his tee shot with water left. The result? Ball in the water. Tournament over.

The Phoenix Open sells itself as “The People’s Open”—loud, drunk, and chaotic. Chaos found one player during the most pressurized moments of his week; it stopped being about atmosphere and became about disrespect.

Hideki is one of the most composed, focused players on tour. He doesn’t engage with crowds. He doesn’t showboat. He just plays—and somehow, in the moment that mattered most, someone tried to make sure he couldn’t.

The tour loves the “energy” at WM Phoenix Open, but they’ve built an environment where heckling a former Masters champion out of a tournament is considered part of the experience. Hideki didn’t complain. He didn’t rage. He just lost a tournament he could have won because someone decided it was funny and not a big deal.