The Players Championship has essentially become the PGA Tour’s fifth major tournament.
With a record amount of money available for the field, a venerable TPC Sawgrass course ready to challenge the world’s best players and one of the most iconic holes in the sport (No. 17’s island green), The Players has become a marquee event for both the sport and golf bettors.
So if you were one of the many DFS, One-and-Done or outright gamblers who spent the first half of the week coming up with the perfect lineup, Thursday morning provided quite a shock. Hideki Matsuyama—the No. 11 player in the world and the reigning Masters champion—withdrew from play with a back injury just after 7 a.m., only a short while before his scheduled tee time and right after lineups locked.
And at that point there was nothing anyone who included Matsuyama in their DFS or fantasy pool could do about it.
Hideki Matsuyama is a WD from THE PLAYERS Championship due to a back injury.
Patrick Rodgers replaces Matsuyama in the field.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 10, 2022
Hideki WD. Refund on my outright ticket but a dead roster spot on one of my DFS teams. 🤬
— Doug Wedge (@djwedgebets) March 10, 2022
@DraftKings Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the Players after lineups locked due to injury. 🙏 for Hideki. Please allow replacement with player who hasn’t teed off. Lineup is dead before it even started for one of the biggest tourneys of the year!
— Nick Gulino (@Nick_Gulino) March 10, 2022
Hideki Matsuyama WD from THE PLAYERS Championship due to a back injury.
📊 Average DFS ownership: 10.18% | Pre-tournament odds: +2800 pic.twitter.com/tRnh6eIhk1
— FantasyLabs GOLF (@FantasyLabsGOLF) March 10, 2022
@FanDuel @FanDuel_Support ridiculous that you can’t sub out Hideki Matsuyama with a golfer who hasn’t tee’d off yet. Should change this.
— Dan DiVirgilio (@djdeever) March 10, 2022
Translation:
GOLF WITHDRAW ALERT: Hideki Matsuyama has withdrawn from THE PLAYERS Championship. But it doesn’t matter because you are stuck with him.
There ya go @DraftKings @dklive @DKSportsbook https://t.co/bKq7Rv3ODq
— Rich Osborne (@richwosborne) March 10, 2022
Hideki Matsuyama received 4.5% of the Betting Handle and 3.3% of the Tickets at BetMGM as of yesterday afternoon.
His odds dipped from +3300 to +2800.
He wasn't inside the Top-10 Handle at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Bettors will be refunded, but it's a tough pill for DFS'ers.
— Neil Parker (@naparker77) March 10, 2022
Hideki Matsuyama opened +4000, moved to +3300 to be First Round Leader at @THEPLAYERSChamp.
Matsuyama had received the most bets and was the biggest liability at @BetMGM before withdrawing.
— John Ewing 🦁 (@johnewing) March 10, 2022
Obviously, this is not an enviable position for sportsbooks, DFS leagues or anyone running a pool with their friends. Those who were holding onto tickets with Hideki’s name will have their bets voided, but that hardly helps those who could no longer edit their lineup.
That only became more difficult to stomach when Patrick Rodgers, who replaced Matsuyama, began his opening round with a birdie.
Yet another example of why anyone with Hideki Matsuyama in DFS should automatically receive his alternate in his place pic.twitter.com/RaNHlhu5Zl
— David Gordon (@dgord_tweets) March 10, 2022
Hey @DraftKings How about when something like this #hidekimatsuyama bs happens last minute, you automatically replace him with whoever replaces him in the field? Seems only fair unless the money grab is just too intoxicating. Ugh! #frustrated #DraftKings #DFS
— Jrod #D4L (@jrod9176) March 10, 2022
Hey @DraftKings Hideki Matsuyama just WD from the players tournament. Only 6 guys on the course and I cannot change my team. This is absurd. Consider rule changes please.
— Andrew Leintz 🏈⛳️🏌🏼♂️ (@AndrewLeintz10) March 10, 2022
