PGA Tour @ Genesis Invitational: Hideki’s unexpected surge delivers 9th Tour title

Hideki Matsuyama had previously won eight times on the US PGA Tour. His most recent victory came two years ago, in Hawaii. The massive talent of the 2021 Masters champion lay in wait, hibernating like a great bear. On Sunday, along Hogan’s Alley, it emerged from its slumber.

Matsuyama began Sunday with birdies at each of the first three holes. He motored through the remaining six holes of the outward half with pars, then struck thrice again, at holes 10 through 12. Over the closing stretch, Hideki was once again composed and precise. Birdies at 15, 16, and 17 were blended with pars at the rest, for an incomprehensible 62. The total was one off the course record of 61, set by Ted Tryba in 1997.

Matsuyama teed off at 1:42, local time, three groups behind Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Neither of the leaders made any noise on Sunday, which relegated them to pleasant, top-five finishes. Cantlay was one-over 72 on the day, while Schauffele went one-under 70, to tie him and Adam Hadwin at fourth spot. They finished four shots back of the champion.

Making wee moves on Sunday were Will Zalatoris and Luke List. The pair teed off together at 2:04, in the penultimate group. Their play, combined with the missteps of Schauffele and Cantlay, might have brought them to the top of the podium. Instead, they ended tied for second at 14-under par, three behind the victor.

This win will certainly set minds a-whirring and tongues a-wagging, as the Players Championship and Masters approach. Matsuyama will be thrust into the role of favorite at one or both, given the precise and somewhat-penal nature of Riviera. A course that has never recognized Nicklaus nor Woods as champion, is certainly some sort of other-world test. For Matsuyama, it is assurance that his strategy and execution are strong, and that his role is once again that of feared entrant.

189 yards to 8 inches
160 yards to 6 inches

… ? https://t.co/2dBdKSDRqe pic.twitter.com/8Xcs28U2kj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 18, 2024

Asian Tour @ Malaysian Open: Puig escapes pursuers with Sunday 62 

David Puig and Jon Rahm have at least three things in common: they are Spanish, they spent time at Arizona State, and each abandoned PGA Tour potential for another league. On Sunday in Malaysia, Puig added a note to his wiki page that Rahm cannot claim: Malaysian Open champion. Puig played the weekend in 124 strokes (62-62) to secure a two-shot win, his second in four months on the Asian Tour.

If it were not for Puig’s pyrotechnics, the headline of this section might have focused on Jeunghun Wang or Denwit Boriboonsub. The Korean and Malaysian (respectively) contestants each signed for an extraterrestrial score of 61 at The Mines. They reached 21 and 20-deep, with Wang claiming solo second, and Boriboonsub finishing tied with John Catlin of the USA for third.

Puig made the 36-hole cut on the number, then found lightning in a bottle, to earn a spot at The Open in July at Royal Troon.

Congratulations to David Puig on his second @asiantour win in the last four months, earning him a spot in the @TheOpen this summer.

David has been working hard with @mytpidave to develop mechanics that are not only more repeatable and consistent, but a better match for his… pic.twitter.com/O4Dj88YS9E

— TPI (@MyTPI) February 18, 2024

PGA Tour Champions @ Chubb Classic: Rains crown Ames as Chubb champion

For the second time in February, Mother Nature decreed that a US Tour event would not see its expected completion. Following Wyndham Clark’s 54-hole triumph at Pebble Beach, Stephen Ames received the unanticipated gift of a 36-hole title at Florida’s Tiburon Golf Club.

Ames positioned himself for a Sunday battle with a Saturday 64. His work included nine birdies and an inexplicable bogey at the par-five 16th hole. His day-two performance moved him four shots up the ladder, past first-round leader Rocco Mediate. Mediate’s second-round score of 71 was marred by two bogies and a double. He anticipated a final-day battle with Ames and his other pursuers, but that day never came.

The PGA Tour Champions moves across the waters to the Trophy Hassan II in Morocco, then returns stateside, three weeks later, for Arizona’s Cologuard Classic.

Dialed in ?@StephenAmesPGA leads by FOUR @ChubbClassic. pic.twitter.com/L8fePgAZBS

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) February 17, 2024