SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The par-3 16th hole is the centerpiece of the golf extravaganza known as the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Unfortunately for the 20,000 fans who packed the rowdy stadium hole at TPC Scottsdale, the action was just getting started late Sunday afternoon when the final group moved on to the 17th tee.

That’s where Rickie Fowler self-destructed, first giving Hideki Matsuyama an unexpected chance in regulation, then handing the 23-year-old Japanese player the trophy on the fourth hole of a playoff.

“Rickie opened the door for me, and I was able to walk through it,” Matsuyama said through a translator.

Fowler blew a two-shot lead on the 317-yard 17th in regulation when his driver ran through the green and tumbled into the lake that wraps around the back and left side, with the ball traveling nearly 360 yards.

“I’m hitting a chip-cut driver,” Fowler said. “Usually, don’t expect it to hit on the downslope and then go 360.”

Using a 3-wood on the hole in the playoff, he pulled his drive left into the water just short of the green.

“Hit it solid,” Fowler said. “Just hit it a little high on the face and it just got up and left a little quicker than I was expecting and wanted.”

Matsuyama birdied the hole in regulation to tie for the lead, chipping to 2 1/2 feet. On the fourth extra hole, he chipped to 6 feet and two-putted for the win after Fowler missed a 10-foot par putt.

“Surprised and sad that Rickie finished that way, but all I can do is my best,” Matsuyama said. “I was lucky to come out on top.”

Fowler broke down in tears in the media center a few minutes later, overcome by emotion talking about his family.

“The hard part is having all my friends and family and grandpa and my dad who haven’t seen me win,” Fowler said. “But I will be able to kind of hang with them tonight. I’ll be all right.”

Fowler forced the playoff with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th after Matsuyama made an 18-footer. “The putt I made there was probably the best putt I have ever made in my life,” Matsuyama said.

The playoff was just as dramatic.

On the par-4 10th on the third extra hole, Fowler saved par with a 12-foot putt after driving into the left rough and skulling his approach long and right. Matsuyama made a 5-footer to extend the playoff.