Hideki Matsuyama accepts Tiger’s challenge, win’s Tiger event

Before the final round of the Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods offered a specific challenge to Hideki Matsuyama: Shoot 10 under and you’ll win this thing.

Matsuyama didn’t quite get there, but he got close: Nine under par on 19 holes, a final-round 64 plus a birdie on the first playoff hole, enough to edge out Alex Noren and beat out a star-studded Hero field.

“Tiger is my idol,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “A couple years ago in L.A., we couldn’t take picture, but nine years ago was the first time able to take picture with Tiger and I wanted to take a picture with Tiger [again]. That’s why I played well in Tiger’s event.”

Matsuyama was referring to his win at the 2024 Genesis Invitational, the other event Woods hosts, but Woods withdrew that week and wasn’t part of the winner’s ceremony. Matsuyama also won the Hero in 2016; Woods finished 15th that week and stuck around to present the trophy.

The win was Matsuyama’s first since the Sentry in January, and even though it’s unofficial by PGA Tour standards, it’s the ideal way to enter the offseason after what was, by the Japanese star’s lofty standards, a middling season.

“It was very tough season for me,” Matsuyama said. “[I talked to my] swing coach in Japan, every night and I was just able to play great.”

The fireworks came early and often for Matsuyama in the final round; he made five birdies on the front nine and then holed out from 116 yards for an eagle 2 at No. 10. Seven pars and a birdie the rest of the way was enough to get him into a playoff with Noren, who birdied 15, 16 and 18 to match him at 22 under par.

But when the two returned to 18 for the first sudden-death playoff hole, Matsuyama seized control of the tournament with a flagged 9-iron from 166 yards to three feet. When Noren’s birdie putt slid by the edge, Matsuyama finished out for birdie and the win.

A few other winners: from the Hero:

-Noren’s consolation prize: His fourth top-three finish in his last nine starts plus a Masters berth.

“Especially against players like this, I’m really proud of myself,” Noren said. “I know it may be low scoring right now, but you’ve got to hit the shots out there. Me and my caddie worked very hard this week to get it all in shape.”

-This was Sepp Straka’s first stroke-play start since August’s Tour Championship, where he finished in last place shortly after the birth of his son Thomas. Straka looked much sharper this go-round, shooting 21 under to miss a playoff by just a single shot.

“It was a really good year. It was a great year,” Straka said. “I felt like I had a lot of chances to win tournaments. Won two tournaments for the first time in a season. Yeah, very happy where my game is headed.”

-Scottie Scheffler finished T4, his 16th consecutive worldwide start where he’s finished T8 or better. He left frustrated not to three-peat at the Hero but pleased with the state of his game.

“I would say this feels more to me like the start of the year than the end of the year,” Scheffler said. “You know, I took a pretty good break after the Ryder Cup. It had been another long season, and with the season for me starting a couple weeks later this year with no Maui, I pushed it a little bit further up to this event as well, so I got a good break. It’s nice to come down here, kind of gauge where I’m at. Like I said, very optimistic, did a lot of good things. I definitely felt like some of the stuff I’ve been working on the last few weeks I saw some progress here, and the stuff I was focused on in the offseason, definitely saw some progress here as well. Good place to be.”

-J.J. Spaun finished off a career-changing season with a T4 — but I got a grin out of his firsthand Tiger Woods experience on Saturday pre-round.

“Yeah, he watched me my entire warmup yesterday, like right on my bag,” Spaun said. “We were chatting back and forth. I was just like, so nervous because I’m not used to hitting in front of him. He definitely got the first tee nerves out the way for me there on the range.

“But it was cool, like I loved coming to this tournament growing up in L.A. and just enjoy being involved with anything Tiger does. If you’re hanging around him, you’re in good company, you’re doing something right. It’s been such a fun week and an honor to be here.”