Hideki Matsuyama successfully defended his title this past weekend, winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open in back-to-back years! Since 1960, the only players to have won the championship in back-to-back years have been Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller and now, Hideki Matsuyama – not a bad group of guys to be on a list with! In both victories, Matsuyama would win in a playoff, last year against Rickie Fowler and this year, against Webb Simpson.
He held Simpson off in a 4-hole playoff while shooting a rounds of 65-68-68-66 for a total of 17-under-par. They went back and forth in the playoff holes, each coming extremely close to victory before Matsuyama sealed his second straight title with a birdie from 12 feet. This would be Matsuyama’s fourth title on the PGA TOUR.
Dating back to last October, he now has three worldwide wins, including the WGC-HSBC Champions, the Hero World Challenge and two runners-up (CIMB Classic and SBS Tournament of Champions). He also had a T27 and T33 in this stretch since October at the Sony Open and Farmers Insurance Open as well as wins on the Japan Tour at the Japan Open Golf Championship and Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters – that’s five wins in nine worldwide starts! In the video above, watch highlights from his most recent win!
Source: WM Phoenix Open
