Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama sealed an historic seven shot victory in the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai to become the first Asian player to win a World Golf Championship title.
The 24 year old closed with a final round 66, taking his tally of birdies to 29 across the four rounds, and playing the final 45 holes without dropping a shot at Sheshan International, to seal the largest winning margin in the tournament’s history.
Matsuyama’s winning score of 23 under par was just one shot shy of Dustin Johnson’s record low total in 2013, with Henrik Stenson (65) and Daniel Berger (69) sharing second place on a distant 16 under par.
Stenson’s result, however, means he replaces Danny Willett as leader of The Race to Dubai, with the Swede now 261,387 points clear of the Masters champion with three events remaining of the 2016 European Tour season.
Rory McIlroy also closed the gap on Willett after closing with a six under par 66 to share fourth place with Bill Haas on 15 under par. It was McIlroy’s fifth top ten finish in sixth appearances in the tournament, and boost his chances of retaining his Race to Dubai crown.
Ross Fisher and Francesco Molinari finished in a three-way share of sixth place with Rickie Fowler on 14 under par, while defending champion Russell Knox, who had started the final day three shots behind Matsuyama, carded a 74 to drop back to 12 under. He shared ninth position with Sergio Garcia.
Matsuyama said: “I was really nervous at the start of the day, but I was able to birdie the first, and I kind of got myself into the rhythm of the day, and after that it was smooth sailing. I really don’t know why I played well this week. Over last three years I’ve had to withdraw from this tournament twice, and I didn’t play very well the other year. But I got off to a good start and I really didn’t make any changes to my golf swing or anything else. I have putted really well these last three weeks, and that’s probably the difference. My next goal is, of course, to win a Major, and I’m going to do all that I can to prepare well for that.”