Matsuyama wins Hero World Challenge

His final round 76 saw him finish the tournament on four-under-par, 14 shots adrift of victor Hideki Mastuyama. It’s great to be back playing against the best players in the world but unfortunately I made a lot of mistakes this week.

“It probably takes me close to two or three hours to do everything with my physio”, Woods said.

With its limited field and the fact that it isn’t a full PGA Tour money event, the Hero World Challenge was the ideal place for Woods to make his comeback after withdrawing from October’s Safeway Open just three days before the tournament.

“Three doubles today just adds up to a pretty high number”. Woods said his course management was to blame, along with relative rust and a lack of stamina.

Woods found another bunker off the tee at seven but blasted out and rolled in the 20-foot putt his first birdie of the day. It is not an unhappy situation to be in for a man who was recovering from two back surgeries around this time a year ago. Even more alarming is that Matsuyama is making it look easy, although getting through the final nine holes at the Hero World Challenge felt as heavy as walking through the beach sand of the Bahamas. “The feel of playing, the feel of adrenaline in my system, hitting shots”.

Of course he will need to smooth out some of those rough edges and cut out the mistakes, but the bogeys are nothing to worry about when you previously hadn’t played a tournament for 466 days. Those who finished ahead of him include players who have won majors, medals at the Olympics and shown strong performances at The President’s Cup this season.

Matsuyama closed with two pars for a 1-over 73 and a two-shot victory. “Generally when I come back from layoffs, that’s the most concerning part of the game, but I’ve been able to build a significant amount of positive shots and go under par early”.

That’s the kind of golf Woods used to play and he described what Matsuyama is doing as “daunting” and “he’s one of the players that we’re going to have to beat for a long time”. Apart from Matsuyama, Stenson was the day’s other best performer with a six-under that included seven birdies and a single bogey on the par-4 16th.

Whether you thought the weekend was a success for Woods or an epic fail you can’t deny the excitement he brings to the game.

On Woods, Matsuyuma said, “I first heard the name of Tiger Woods at the ’97 Masters. Quite frankly, I haven’t done it in a while, so we’re going to be smart about it”.

Matsuyama now has 12 victories worldwide, and while he became the first Asian to win a World Golf Championships title, a major is where players are measured. As usual, he was noncommittal on his upcoming schedule, but he’s most likely to play next on the PGA Tour Jan. 26-29 at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, where he’s won eight times.