Beyond the challenge of trying to win the Zozo Championship in his home country of Japan, Hideki Matsuyama had another goal last week.
Matsuyama, the reigning Masters champion, knew Tiger Woods had won at Augusta National and in Japan two years ago and he wanted to duplicate the achievement.
With a final round that included two eagles, Matsuyama was able to beat Cameron Tringale and Brendan Steele by five strokes to win his seventh PGA Tour title.
“It was one of my biggest goals to win in front of the Japanese fans. So happy that I will be able to accomplish that,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter.
“Also, in 2019 Tiger won the Masters and went on to win the Zozo Championship, so I’m glad that I would be able to emulate that as well.”
Playing in front of a Japanese crowd, Matsuyama said he felt the added pressure of trying to win on his native soil. It was made more challenging by struggles with his mechanics.
Matsuyama didn’t feel comfortable with his swing but managed to make it work as he pulled away across the final nine holes. He also made a tweak to his putting grip last week.
“I would rate my performance as 2 or 3,” Matsuyama said. “From the results perspective, it went about to 8, but I think it’s because of all the energy that I was getting from the fans and I was very surprised how much energy I was feeding off of them.
“My confidence was around 1 or 2, but thanks to all the Japanese crowd out there, I was able to feed off of their energy and play well.”
The victory pushes Matsuyama to No. 12 in the world rankings and it brings another goal into focus.
“The most PGA Tour wins by the Asian players is KJ Choi’s eight wins and Shigeki Maruyama told me to go on and beat that record, so I’m glad I’m getting close to that particular record,” Matsuyama said.
Ron Green Jr.