When Hideki Matsuyama showed up on Maui for the season-opening Sentry at Kapalua’s spectacular Plantation Course last week, he had four putters in his bag and a head full of hope that one of those had a touch of magic attached.
Practically everything Matsuyama touched at Kapalua seemed dusted with magic as he rolled to a three-stroke victory over Collin Morikawa in the first event of the 2025 PGA Tour season.
Matsuyama set a 72-hole scoring record at the par-73 Plantation Course, taking full advantage of the sunny, benign conditions, finishing at 35-under-par 257 for his 11th PGA Tour victory. It was the lowest score in relation to par in a 72-hole PGA Tour event.
Starting the final round with a one-stroke lead over Morikawa after each of them shot 62 while playing together on Saturday, Matsuyama holed a 107-yard wedge shot for an eagle on the par-4 third hole Sunday to build some separation from Morikawa, which he maintained throughout the closing 18 holes.
“I knew Collin was going to play good. I said, ‘Hey I’m going to shoot 10-under today. That was the attitude I had,” said Matsuyama, who shot 8-under-par 65 in the final round.
“That last putt, it felt like if I make it it’s going to be the record. I’m so happy it went in."
Hideki Matsuyama
When he holed an eight-foot birdie putt on the final green, Matsuyama broke the scoring record Cam Smith set en route to winning at Kapalua in 2022.
“That last putt, it felt like if I make it it’s going to be the record. I’m so happy it went in,” said Matsuyama, who made only two bogeys all week.
When asked about the putter he chose at Kapalua, Matsuyama played coy about the details.
“I saw somebody else using it and I thought, ‘Oh, this looks good,’ so I had them make one, and I’m using it this week,” he said.
For Morikawa, it was another near miss following a 2024 season that elevated him to fourth in the world ranking despite having not won since the 2023 Zozo Championship.
Morikawa had eight top-10 finishes last year, including a T3 at the Masters and a T4 at the PGA Championship. He finished second in the FedEx Cup playoffs behind Scottie Scheffler and shot the lowest 72-hole score in the Tour Championship at East Lake but finished behind Scheffler in the weighted scoring system.
Taylor Pendrith spiced the Sunday action by making an albatross on the par-5 fifth hole, knocking in a 203-yard 6-iron for the first deuce on a par-5 in tournament history.
“I had a really good number, and was just trying to hit a hard 6-iron and land it kind of front third and let it chase back, and as soon as I hit it I knew it was going to be really good, didn’t expect it to go in, didn’t see it go in, but the fans that were up by the green went crazy, so, yeah, it was a really good bonus,” Pendrith said.
It was his eighth albatross while having three holes-in-one in his career.
Ron Green Jr.