Matsuyama claims victory at The Genesis Invitational, becomes Asia’s most successful golfer on PGA Tour

Japanese pride Hideki Matsuyama has become the most successful Asian player on the PGA Tour after claiming his ninth career title at The Genesis Invitational.

The 2021 Masters champion staged a remarkable comeback, overcoming a six-shot deficit with a flawless final round of nine-under-par 62 to secure a three-shot victory over the American duo of Will Zalatoris and Luke List at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

Matsuyama's exceptional performance was characterised by a blistering start and finish, as he birdied three of his opening holes and then proceeded to secure two hat-tricks of birdies on holes 10 through 12 and 15 through 17.

His stellar round marked the lowest-ever score at Riviera, culminating in his first title victory in two years since the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii.

More significantly, this triumph propelled him past South Korea's K.J. Choi, breaking the tie for the most victories by an Asian player on the PGA Tour.

The win also couldn't have come at a better time for Matsuyama as he will celebrate his 32nd birthday this Sunday.

However, it would have been even more perfect if he could have posed for a photograph with the legendary tournament host Tiger Woods, who made his first start of the season this week but withdrew due to illness.

“You know, to win in this tournament was one of my goals ever since I became pro. After Tiger being the host, that goal became a lot bigger. A little disappointed I wasn't able to take a picture with Tiger today,” said Matsuyama, who also became the second Asian to win The Genesis Invitational following Chinese Taipei’s T.C. Chen in 1987.

“Reaching nine wins was one of my big goals, passing K.J. Choi. After my eighth win, I've been struggling with my back (neck) injury. There were a lot of times where I felt, you know, I was never going to win again. I struggled reaching to top-10, but I'm really happy that I was able to win today."

Matsuyama is projected to ascend from 55th to 20th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

His victory marks the culmination of a superb back-to-back week for Japanese golf, following Rikuya Hoshino's triumph at the Qatar Masters on the DP World Tour in the preceding week.