ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite struggling with back pain before his round, Hideki Matsuyama shot 67 on Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. It was his short game, and not his back, that received the most attention, however.

Matsuyama had a strange sequence of short-game events on Nos. 15 and 16. He double hit his chip shot on 15 but responded by chipping in for eagle on the next hole.

Matsuyama was the beneficiary of a 2019 rules change that removed the penalty for striking a ball twice with the same shot.

“It wasn't like a difficult lie or anything, just hit it in the air,” Matsuyama said about the double hit. “I was like, oh, shoot, it hit. I wasn't sure if that was a penalty or not, but I asked the caddie, and he mentioned it's not a penalty, so I was able to keep my game going.”

Matsuyama is coming off a victory in his previous start after shooting a final-round 62 to win The Genesis Invitational, his first PGA TOUR victory since the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii. He was atop the leaderboard when he walked off the course Thursday, tied with Justin Lower at 5-under par.

It was surprising after Matsuyama was seen holding his back during his pre-round warmup. He said after the round that the pain had caused numbness in one of his legs.

“It’s not really in the perfect condition,” Matsuyama said. He was in perfect position on the leaderboard, however.