Hideki Matsuyama overcame a five-shot deficit over Russell Henley with nine holes to play, then beat him in the playoffs on the first extra hole with the shot of the year so far to clinch his eighth PGA Tour title at the Sony Open.
Matsuyama, 29, proved his major class as he fired his second shot in the par-5 18th from outside 270 yards less than two feet from the pin for the eagle and to rapturous applause from Hawaiian fans.
Henley found trouble off the tee and then sailed his approach shot well over the back of the green, and he would continue to bogey.
Matsuyama stepped up his ball and tapped it home for the Eagle to win the tournament.
WATCH THE MAGIC OF MATSUYAMA HERE
INCREDIBLE SHOT.
Hideki delivers a beauty from 277 yards on the first hole of the playoffs! pic.twitter.com/qT8ByiAVrm
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 17, 2022
At the 1983 Sony Open, Japan’s Isao Aoki became the first national winner on the PGA Tour.
Incredibly, he also eagled on the final hole to win the tournament – look below.
Matsuyama, who now moves to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, hadn’t forgotten that moment.
“I’m really happy,” said Matsuyama, helped by his interpreter on the 18th green.
“This is the first tournament a Japanese player has won on the PGA Tour when Isao Aoki won here, so to follow him, I’m just thrilled.”
In normal times, Matsuyama put the par-5 18th for a birdie to shoot a final round of 7-under 63 and level playing partner Henley (who shot 65) at 23-under par for 72 holes.
Henley led by two shots going into the final round and he would extend his cushion to five shots when converting a three-footer for the Eagle at the par-5 9th.
But as we all know, anything can happen in golf, and it happened as Henley failed to record a single birdie on the back nine as Matsuyama took full advantage.
Although he held five back on the turn, Matsuyama quickly reduced that lead to two with birdies at 10 and 11, aided by a bogey from Henley at 11, and then found himself one stroke away when emptying an 18-footer for a birdie on the 15th.
The defending Masters champion had a seven-footer for a birdie on 16 that would have leveled it but he would fail to convert.
Henley and Matsuyama both made par at the par-3 17th, meaning Henley held a slim one-shot lead at the par-5 18th.
Matsuyama smashed a drive over 300 yards into the semi-rough leaving 210 yards at the pin, while Henley sent his tee shot into the fairway bunker about 270 yards out.
Henley splashed a corner out of the bunker and into the fairway, leaving the gate ajar for Matsuyama to send a mid-iron through the heart of the green from around 50 feet.
With a corner in hand from 125 yards, Henley fired his shot down the flag eight feet – as he had done most of the week.
Matsuyama putt twice for his birdie to tie Henley’s 23-under tally.
This gave Henley a golden chance to win the tournament, but his putt went past the right side of the cup and he managed to force a sudden-death playoff.
Unfortunately, that missed putt would prove costly for Henley as Matsuyama produced his moment of playoff magic and knocked out the winner.
Just outside 270 yards, Matsuyama flew his 3 wood from the fairway directly onto the two-footed pin for the eagle to wrap up his eighth career PGA Tour win.
He also scores a second win in his last three starts following a home victory in the ZOZO Championship in late October.
Henley may have won three times on the PGA Tour, but his last win now came at the 2017 Houston Open.
The American has converted just one of six 54-hole leads or co-leads into PGA Tour wins, which isn’t a record he’ll be fond of now.
Elsewhere in the standings, Kevin Kisner continued his strong recent form to finish tied for third with Ireland’s Seamus Power at 19 under par.
Michael Thompson and Lucas Glover performed admirably to finish at 18 under par, with Keith Mitchell, Matt Kuchar, Adam Svensson and Scotsman Russell Knox another shot back at 17 under par.
FINAL RANKING SONY OPEN
-23 R Henley (USA), H Matsuyama (Japan)*
-19 K Kisner (USA), S Power (Ireland)
*Matsuyama wins with an eagle on the first extra hole
