LOS ANGELES – Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama fired nine birdies in a scintillating nine-under 62 on Feb 18 to rally from six shots back to win the Genesis Invitational at The Riviera Country Club.
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, notched his ninth PGA Tour title, breaking a tie with South Korean K.J. Choi for the most by a player from Asia. It was all the more meaningful coming more than two years after his most recent title at the 2022 Sony Open, and after a neck injury left him fearing he might not win again.
“Reaching nine wins was one of my big goals, passing K.J. Choi,” Matsuyama said. “After my eighth win, I’ve been struggling with my injury. There were a lot of times I felt I was never going to win again, I struggled to finish top-10.
“I’m really happy I was able to win today.”
The 31-year-old unleashed a mighty fist pump when his last putt dropped. His 62 is the lowest closing round ever for a tournament winner at Riviera.
Tap-in birdies at the par-four 15th and par-three 16th broke the Japanese star free atop a crowded leaderboard that saw five players tied for the lead on the back nine.
He added a birdie at the par-five 17th – shooting six under on the back nine and capping his round with a two-putt par at Riviera’s iconic 18th.
His 17-under 267 left him three strokes clear of Americans Luke List and Will Zalatoris. List carded a 68 and Zalatoris a 69 for 270.
Matsuyama, who was one stroke shy of equalling the course record, had started the day tied for seventh but leapt into contention with birdies at the first three holes.
His rivals fell by the wayside. List had powered to the lead with an eagle on the par-five first and three birdies on the front nine, but had three bogeys and just one birdie coming in.
Zalatoris, playing on a sponsor’s invitation as he works his way back from back surgery that cut short his 2023 campaign, had the solo lead after his fourth birdie of the day at the par-four 13th, but he could not keep pace with Matsuyama and fell three adrift with a bogey at the 15th.
Overnight leader Patrick Cantlay, who had carried a five-shot lead into the weekend and saw it dwindle to two going into the final round, never got anything going and finished with a 72 that put him in a tie for fourth with Canadian Adam Hadwin (65) and American Xander Schauffele (70).
Matsuyama enjoyed a sizeable boost to his world ranking from 55th to 20th, as well as a US$4 million (S$5.4 million) winner’s prize from the US$20 million purse at the third of eight signature events on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule.
The elite tournaments are designed to showcase the game’s best, but top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy were never a factor. Tournament host Tiger Woods’ first start of 2024 ended abruptly midway through the second round on Feb 16 when he withdrew because of illness.
“A little disappointed that I wasn’t able to take a picture with Tiger today,” admitted Matsuyama, who received congratulations from the 15-time Major champion via X (formerly Twitter) on an “incredible win”.
“I was watching all day and seeing a record-breaking 62 and coming from six shots back is truly special,” Woods posted.
AFP
