Scottie Scheffler was on the verge of a historic three-peat at the Hero World Challenge, but Hideki Matsuyama had other plans, orchestrating a final-round charge that flipped the script in Albany. Matsuyama dominated the field to claim his second Hero World Challenge title, ending his year just the way he started it. Interestingly, the way he won in the close competition stood out the most.
The biggest turning point of the day for Matsuyama came on the 10th hole. Sitting 116 yards from the hole, he chipped the ball in perfectly towards the cup for a great hole-out. That pushed him up to the top of the leaderboard. But that wasn’t enough.
Alex Noren also climbed up the ladder. He remained under the radar and gradually gained momentum, rising to the top. An 18th hole birdie helped Noren secure a playoff battle for the first time at the event since 2013, with both at 22 under. However, the Japanese star proved to be just a little too good in the end as he struck an excellent approach shot on the first playoff hole itself, making it impossible for Alex to fight for the title and the $1 million paycheck.
“Tiger told me to shoot 10 under today,” Matsuyama said. “I didn’t shoot 10 under, but I’m thrilled to win this week.”
Sepp Straka, who was leading Matsuyama and Noren into the final round, ended a shot back in third. England’s Justin Rose was sixth at 18-under after completing his best round of the week with 66. Rose was followed by Corey Conners, with Harris English, Wyndham Clark, and Cameron Young completing the top 10 at the event benefiting Woods’ foundation.
Meanwhile, with his second Hero World Challenge title secured since 2016, what is next for Hideki Matsuyama? Let’s understand what will change for him after the big win.
On the other hand, it seemed like Scottie Scheffler had it in the bag after 54 holes. The world No. 1 looked consistent across the three days and entered Sunday one stroke behind the leader. But Hideki Matsuyama was up to create an upset. He avoided making any mistakes throughout the day. And when Scheffler was crumbling under pressure, the Japanese pro remained calm and continued to push towards the top.
The American was two shots out of the lead when he chose to hit driver off the fairway from 291 yards away with a speck of mud on the front of his ball. It went left under a small bush. He hacked that out to a sandy area, then hit his fourth shot over the green to the back portion of a bunker. Only a superb bunker shot allowed him to escape with a bogey. However, he then found a bunker on the par-3 12th that led to bogey. By that time, he was five shots behind Matsuyama when the Japanese star holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole.
Scheffler left the tournament two back, tied for fourth alongside US Open champion JJ Spaun. The world No. 1 has finished no worse than second in each of his last four appearances at the event, winning the previous two. Still, he ended his season by not finishing worse than a tie for eighth in his previous 16 events dating to the Houston Open the last week in March.
“It’s nice to come down here, kind of gauge where I’m at,” Scheffler said. “I definitely felt like some of the stuff I’ve been working on for the last few weeks, I saw some progress here. Good place to be.”
Sepp Straka, who was leading Matsuyama and Noren into the final round, ended a shot back in third. England’s Justin Rose was sixth at 18-under after completing his best round of the week with 66. Rose was followed by Corey Conners, with Harris English, Wyndham Clark, and Cameron Young completing the top 10 at the event benefiting Woods’ foundation.
Meanwhile, with his second Hero World Challenge title secured since 2016, what is next for Hideki Matsuyama? Let’s understand what will change for him after the big win.
