Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama never gave anyone a chance yesterday, closing with a six-under 66 to win the HSBC Champions and become the first Asian winner in the 18 years of the World Golf Championships (WGC).
It was only fitting that Matsuyama won the WGC billed as “Asia’s major.”
The 24-year-old Matsuyama hit his second shot into the water on the par-five 18th hole and still finished with a par, holing an 18-foot putt. That gave him a seven-shot victory over British Open champion Henrik Stenson (65) and Daniel Berger (69).
Photo: Reuters
It was the largest margin of victory at the HSBC Champions, and the largest in a WGC since Tiger Woods won by seven in the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.
Starting the final round with a three-shot lead, Matsuyama hit his approach into four feet for birdie and was on his way. His only difficult moment came at the par-three fourth hole when he went over the green and his chip came out soft, stopping about 15 feet short of the cup. Berger had a 10-foot birdie attempt, setting up the potential for a two-shot swing that would have cut the lead to two shots.
Matsuyama holed the putt, then hit an approach up the hill to four feet on the next hole for birdie. He poured it on along the back nine with a 35-foot birdie putt on the 13th, a two-putt birdie on the par-five 14th hole and then another strong approach out of the rough to the tough 15th that settled three feet away.
He played his final 45 holes at Sheshan International without a bogey. Matsuyama finished at 23-under 265, one shot away from the tournament record set three years ago by Dustin Johnson.
It was the 10th career victory for Matsuyama, who goes to a career-best No. 6 in the world ranking.
In the last three weeks since he finished his best PGA Tour season with fifth place at the Tour Championship, Matsuyama won the Japan Open, was runner-up in Malaysia to Justin Thomas in the CIMB Classic, and then won his biggest tournament yet.
“Hideki played just unbelievable and it was a pleasure to watch. You can learn a lot from watching Hideki play,” Berger said. “He’s struck it well. He’s putted well. He’s chipped well. He’s done everything well, and that’s why he’s won by so many.”
Defending champion Russell Knox, playing in the final group with Matsuyama and Berger, could not match his birdies and then fell far behind trying to push it. Knox finished the front nine with two bogeys and started the back nine with a pair of bogeys. He closed with a 74 and tied for ninth.
Knox is not sure it would have mattered the way Matsuyama was playing.
“He was brilliant,” he said. “No weaknesses the last two days. He drove the ball well and far, and his iron play was very good. And he made it look very easy.”
Knox played in the final group in both tournaments in Asia. Asked his immediate plans, he smiled and said: “Take a week off and give my trophy to Hideki.”
Rory McIlroy closed with a 66 to share fourth with Bill Haas (69). McIlroy said he would skip the Turkish Airlines Open next week, presumably because of security concerns over recent weeks, which makes him a long shot for the Race to Dubai on the European Tour.
Taiwan’s Chan Shih-chang carded a fourth-round one-under-par 71 for a total of seven-over 295.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS