Connect with us

Sports

Matsuyama heads to the final major with confidence

Published

on

AKRON, Ohio — Hideki Matsuyama is never sure when his best golf is going to show up.

When it does, he can pile up victories with the best of them.

One of the bigger surprises came at just the right time for Matsuyama. While he was only two shots out of the lead going into the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational, he lost his swing on his way to the practice range.

“Probably the worst warmup at a tournament that I’ve won,” he said.

More than just the win was the manner in which the 25-year-old from Japan captured his second World Golf Championship.

He chipped in from 60 feet for eagle on the second hole to get in the game. He took the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole, and he kept right on going. Already in control, he remembered the course record at Firestone was 61 because he was playing with Tiger Woods in 2013 when Woods did it. Matsuyama closed with three straight birdies for a 9-under 61 to win by five shots.

He went from wondering where the ball was going to knowing where to find it _ at the bottom of the cup.

“When you’re making birdies,” he said, “get relaxed real quick.”

And now the pressure returns.

Matsuyama heads to Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina for the PGA Championship, the final major of the year and his last chance to cap off a year in which the Japanese star moved into the elite in golf.

Japan is clamouring for its first major champion, and he knows it.

“All I can do is my best,” Matsuyama said. “I know a lot of us have tried from Japan to win majors. Hopefully, some day it will happen.”

The timing has never been for him.

When he was 21 and still finishing up his college degree in Japan, Matsuyama had a five-week stretch in which he won twice and was runner-up twice on the Japan Golf Tour in 2013, the year he became the first rookie to win the Order of Merit.

What really turned heads was last fall. Starting with a pressure-filled victory before the home crowd in the Japan Open, Matsuyama had a six-tournament stretch in which he won four times and was runner-up in the other two events. Among those victories was the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, which he won by seven shots for his first World Golf Championship.

Sustaining great golf is difficult for anyone.

Rory McIlroy hasn’t won since the Tour Championship last year. Jordan Spieth missed three cuts in four starts earlier this year and now goes for the career Grand Slam at Quail Hollow this week.

“It’s tough to be able to putt well and hit good golf shots all at the same time,” Matsuyama said. “Even after that good run, I hoped I could continue on, but it didn’t happen and I was hoping to do better. But I think this week especially, the mental aspect of the game played a big part in my victory. I was able to control my emotions. I felt calm, peaceful, didn’t try to get too high or too low. And I think that was one of the major reasons why I was successful.”

It certainly got the attention of McIlroy, who never could catch up to Matsuyama in Shanghai last fall.

“Once he gets going, he just keeps the hammer down and keeps it going,” McIlroy said. “It’s very impressive. He’s played very impressively over the past 18 months with a lot of wins and a lot of good finishes. That’s the calibre of player he is. I expect him to be right up there next week, as well.”

Along with capturing another World Golf Championship title, Matsuyama won for the third time this season, joining Spieth and Dustin Johnson for the most on the PGA Tour. He also took over the lead in the FedEx Cup with the start of the playoffs just three weeks away.

He had not won since the Phoenix Open, and while the pressure is building in the majors, Matsuyama has had one of his best years. He tied for 11th in the Masters, was runner-up by four shots to Brooks Koepka in the U.S. Open and tied for 14th in the British Open.

It only appeared he was struggling because the expectations keep rising.

“I hope their expectations aren’t too high,” Matsuyama said. “But my expectations really at the beginning of this week weren’t that high, either, and here we are.”

Matsuyama stays at No. 3 in the world, a fraction behind Spieth, but only because Spieth had created a large gap from his British Open victory. Matsuyama had a chance to get to No. 1 in the world, but he missed his only cut of the year in Los Angeles, and that was right about the time Dustin Johnson got on a roll.

He has reached as high as No. 2 this year, though he doesn’t look at himself as being in the category of Spieth, Johnson, McIlroy or even Jason Day.

“I haven’t won a major yet. I have a lot of work left to do,” Matsuyama said. “But that’s not to say that I don’t have confidence.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maria in Vancouver

Lifestyle3 days ago

Family Estrangement: Why It’s Okay

Family estrangement is the absence of a previously long-standing relationship between family members via emotional or physical distancing to the...

Lifestyle2 months ago

Becoming Your Best Version

By Matter Laurel-Zalko As a woman, I’m constantly evolving. I’m constantly changing towards my better version each year. Actually, I’m...

Lifestyle2 months ago

The True Power of Manifestation

I truly believe in the power of our imagination and that what we believe in our lives is an actual...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

DECORATE YOUR HOME 101

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Our home interiors are an insight into our brains and our hearts. It is our own collaboration...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

Guide to Planning a Wedding in 2 Months

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Are you recently engaged and find yourself in a bit of a pickle because you and your...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Staying Cool and Stylish this Summer

By Matte Laurel-Zalko I couldn’t agree more when the great late Ella Fitzgerald sang “Summertime and the livin’ is easy.”...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Ageing Gratefully and Joyfully

My 56th trip around the sun is just around the corner! Whew. Wow. Admittedly, I used to be afraid of...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

My Love Affair With Pearls

On March 18, 2023, my article, The Power of Pearls was published. In that article, I wrote about the history...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

7 Creative Ways to Propose!

Sometime in April 2022, my significant other gave me a heads up: he will be proposing to me on May...

Maria in Vancouver6 months ago

Why Eating Healthy Matters

We are what we eat, so don’t be fast, cheap, easy, or fake — we should take these words to...