Hideki Matsuyama earned his 11th career PGA TOUR title in a birdie bonanza at The Sentry, and it came in record-setting fashion. Matsuyama carded 35-under 257 at The Plantation Course at Kapalua, three strokes clear of Collin Morikawa, to set a PGA TOUR record for the lowest 72-hole score in relation to par. The prior four lowest 72-hole totals all came at The Sentry, as Kapalua’s generous fairways and pure greens offer a scorable start to a new calendar year on TOUR. Matsuyama, 32, took full advantage with 33 birdies and two eagles – including a 107-yard hole-out from the fairway – against just two bogeys for the week, holding a one-stroke advantage into Sunday and sealing the deal with a closing 8-under 65. The Japan native won a Signature Event for the second straight year (2024 The Genesis Invitational), and he won on Maui with a new putter, a Scotty Cameron 009M Center Shaft Tour Prototype, ranking third at The Sentry in Strokes Gained: Putting. It marked a vast improvement from 2024, where he ranked 121st on TOUR in that statistic. Matsuyama historically goes as his putter goes, and if his performance on the greens at Kapalua is any indication for the season ahead, perhaps 2025 could be the year of Hideki. “I have goals within myself, and I’m not going to say it right here, but there (is) unfinished business that I have set for myself that I still am striving to get to,” Matsuyama said in his winner’s press conference. He’s on his way.
SOURCE: PGATOUR.COM
