|
Matsuyama, who won the Masters in April, finished at 15-under
270 to earn his first title on home soil at Narashino Country
Club.
It's the seventh PGA title for the 29-year-old Japan native, who
was coming off a disappointing finish at The CJ Cup @ Summit
last week. He now trails K.J. Choi for most career PGA titles by
an Asian player by one.
Matsuyama had an eagle and a bogey on the front nine, but found
his groove on the back nine by picking up three birdies in five
holes.
After a bogey on No. 17, Matsuyama sent his second shot on the
par 5 No. 18 to within 12 feet of the hole before nailing the
eagle putt.
"It was one of my biggest goals to win in front of the Japanese
fans here in this country as well," said Matsuyama, who finished
runner-up to Tiger Woods at the inaugural Zozo Championship in
2019.
"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."
Cameron Tringale, who started the day one shot behind Matsuyama
and briefly led on Sunday, bogeyed the final two holes to finish
at 1-under 69 and in a tie for second at 10-under 270 overall.
"To really slam the door and hit an incredible second shot (on
18) and hole the putt, it was storybook," Tringale said of
Matsuyama's performance.
Fellow American Brendan Steele shared the second-place finish
after shooting a 4-under 66, with two late bogeys offsetting six
birdies.
Tringale has now finished runner-up four times while competing
in his 314th start of his career.
England's Matt Wallace (70), Colombia's Sebastian Munoz (70) and
Canada's Mackenzie Hughes (67) finished in a tie for fourth at
6-under 274.
--Field Level Media
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
