KAPALUA, Hawaii — Hideki Matsuyama shot an 8-under 65 to beat Collin Morikawa by three strokes at the Sentinel Course on Sunday, breaking the PGA Tour 72-hole par record. , laid a good start for the new season.
Matsuyama made an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole at Kapalua and pumped his fist slightly, the only emotion he showed all week. That gave him a score of 35-under 257, surpassing Cameron Smith’s 34-under mark set at Kapalua in 2022.
Matsuyama set another PGA Tour record with his final birdie, his birdie or better on the 35th hole of the tournament. The previous record was held by Smith in 2022 and Im Sungjae last year.
It capped off his 11th career victory on the PGA Tour and his third victory in the past 10 months, all against some of his toughest opponents.
Although Morikawa didn’t shoot lower than 66 all week, he still had to settle for second place.
It was another scoring extravaganza on the Plantation Course during the windless weeks, such as the start of a new PGA Tour season.
“Obviously, you need to shoot a lot of low shots to stay ahead,” said Ludvig Åberg, who shot 65-64 over the weekend to tie for fifth.
Matsuyama started out with a one-shot lead over Morikawa but never trailed. He started to build some distance when he holed out a 107-yard bunker wedge on the third hole, which landed in front of the pin, took a hop and disappeared into the Eagle Cup.
When Matsuyama saw the crowd cheering behind the elevated green, his eyes widened, his lips pursed, and he fist-bumped with his caddy. That’s it. It was a methodical game and a methodical week for the 32-year-old Japanese star.
Determined to give it his all, Morikawa stayed within two shots until Matsuyama hit a brilliant chip shot from behind the green to the fifth hole, where he three-putted for par. Morikawa then three-putted again from 60 feet, this time for bogey on the sixth hole.
That left him four shots behind, but he did well to stay in the game until the final few holes. Morikawa birdied the 14th and 15th holes — Matsuyama missed birdie opportunities at 6 and 10 feet — to get within two shots with three strokes remaining.
Matsuyama birdied a 4-foot wedge on the 16th hole, effectively ending the match. Both men birdied the 18th hole, with Morikawa shooting 67.
The Sentinel Tournament is a signature event with a prize of up to US$20 million, and Matsuyama’s US$3.6 million bonus brought his career earnings to more than US$60 million.
I ended up finishing third with a score of 65, worth $1.36 million.
Matsuyama is the seventh player to win two Hawaiian championships on the PGA Tour schedule. Justin Thomas (2017) and Ernie Els (2003) are the only two players to win both titles in the same year. Matsuyama will have a chance to join them next week at the Sony Open in Oahu, where he won three years ago.
Taylor Pendrith hit one of the most unlikely shots of the tournament, holing a 6-iron from 200 yards on the par-5 fifth hole for the first time since the 1999 season opener. The first albatross on the Plantation course since the move to Kapalua.
“When I hit it, I knew it was going to be really good,” Pendrith said. “Didn’t expect it to go in. Didn’t see it go in. But the fans around the green were going crazy, so, yeah, it’s a pretty good bonus.”
Although considered the rarest shot in golf, the Canadian said it was the eighth of his career but the first in the championship.
