Late charge gives Japan superstar Hideki Matsuyama victory at Genesis Invitational

Hideki Matsuyama ended a two-year title wait with a three-stroke victory at The Genesis Invitational on Sunday to became Asia’s most successful golfer on the PGA Tour titles an unprecedented nine career wins. He broke a tie with South Korea’s K.J. Choi with whom he was level on eight titles before Sunday’s result.

Matsuyama, 31, came into the final round trailing overnight leader Patrick Cantlay by six shots but proceeded to put together one of the greatest rounds witnessed at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles with a sensational 9-under 62, the PGA Tour said. At the wire he was well ahead of Americans Will Zalatoris (66-70-65-69) and Luke List (65-69-68-68) while Cantlay finished tied for fourth with a 1 over par 72 to follow cards of 64, 65 and 70.

Matsuyama’s nine-birdie round for an unblemished card was the lowest final day score at Riviera and ended a frustrating title drought and his only disappointment was not being able to receive trophy from tournament host Tiger Woods, who had to withdraw from the event on Friday due to illness.

“You know, to win in this tournament was one of my goals ever since I became a pro. After Tiger being the host, that goal became a lot bigger. A little disappointed I wasn't able to take a picture with Tiger today,” smiled Matsuyama (69-68-68-62), who won the Masters Tournament in 2021 to become Japan’s first male major champion.

Woods though offered congratulations to the newest Signature event champion, who also became the second Asian to win the Genesis Invitational following Chinese Taipei’s T.C. Chen in 1987. “Congratulations to @hidekiofficial_ on an incredible win at @thegenesisinv. I was watching all day and seeing a record breaking 62 and coming from six shots back is truly special,” the US legend posted on X.

“I wasn’t striking the ball really well but my putting and chipping were working a lot this week, especially the 15th, the second shot was probably one of the best shots I’ve had. It was 184 yards into the wind, I executed perfectly, so really happy with how I struck it,” Matsuyama, who will also rise from 55th to 20th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) said later.

“Ever since the injury, I was worried every week something bad might happen. This week I had no issues, I played without any worries and that really helps. It's been my neck that's been hurting. It's really something that's been bothering for a long time. Since the start of this year, it's been getting better, a lot better. It's stress free when I'm sleeping too, so I think I had this feeling of I can do something special maybe this year.”

The stunning come-from-behind result delighted Matsuyama, whose last success came at the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii. He has also not managed a top10 finish after the 2023 Players Championship with a persistent neck injury but in the final round, he produced some exquisite shot-making to charge to a long-awaited victory.

“Reaching nine wins was one of my big goals, passing K.J. Choi. After my eighth win, I've been struggling with my injury. There were a lot of times where I felt, you know, I was never going to win again. I struggled reaching to top-10, but I'm really happy that I was able to win today,” said Matsuyama, who earned $4 million.

Matsuyama started Sunday with three straight birdies, converting from 18 inches, 22 feet and 18 feet. After making the turn in 32, he rode on another hat-trick of birdies from the 10th hole, highlighted by a massive 46-foot birdie putt on the 12th.  Then came two of the best shots seen at Riviera, a 6-iron approach into the difficult 15th hole and an exquisite tee shot on par-3 16th hole where both shots stopped inches from the pin for pivotal birdies. He made his ninth birdie of the day on the par-5 17th hole and delivered a fist-pump on the last green after holing out for a 62 and winning 17-under total. Zalatoris and List were 14 under at the finish.

Canada’s Adam Hadwin, Cantlay and shared fourth place on 13 under par 271s, while Koreans Byeong Hun and Joohyung Kim were the other well-placed Asian finishers in T16 and T24 respectively. Behind Matsuyama who is also the first player from Japan to win the Genesis Invitational, Zalatoris took his fifth runner-up placing in 69 career starts, one of which was again to the Japanese at the 2021 Masters Tournament.

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