Hideki Matsuyama continues winning run at Hero World Challenge
Sunday 4 December 2016 22:33, UK
Hideki Matsuyama held off a valiant challenge from Henrik Stenson down the stretch to clinch his fourth victory in less than two months at the Hero World Challenge.
The red-hot Matsuyama faltered on the back nine as he saw his overnight seven-shot lead whittled away, but he held his nerve over the closing holes to card a 73 and wrap up a two-shot win over the Open champion in blustery conditions at Albany.
Stenson stayed in touch with the leader with birdies at the 14th and 16th, but he missed a great chance to apply further pressure when he three-putted the 15th green when a birdie-four looked a certainty.
Matsuyama, who surged seven clear of the field with his superb 65 on Saturday, looked a model of composure over the front nine as he maintained his advantage with an error-free 34 on the outward nine.
The world No 6 made well-crafted birdies at the third and ninth while grinding out seven solid pars, but he opened the door for playing-partner Stenson when he went from bunker to bunker at the 10th and scrapped his way to a double-bogey six.
Stenson, who had converted a towering four-iron for a superb eagle at the ninth, failed to take full advantage as he bogeyed the 10th, but there was a two-shot swing at the 14th as Matsuyama bogeyed and Stenson rolled in a birdie putt from close range.
Three behind with four to play, Stenson let the Japanese ace off the hook with his three-putt par at 15, but another sublime long-iron set up a rare birdie at the 16th that lifted him to 16 under.
Matsuyama matched Stenson's par at the short 17th, although he blocked his drive into the Bermuda rough at the last and then flew the green with his second before the Swede followed a perfect tee-shot with a solid approach to 10 feet.
But Matsuyama's nerve held as he played a delightful pitch to within inches of the cup and, after Stenson lipped out with his birdie chance to return a 68, the champion tapped in to complete a lucrative few weeks.
The 24-year-old began his golden run with victory on home soil at the Japan Open in mid-October, and he then romped to a dominant seven-shot win at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai before returning to his homeland to lift the Taiheiyo Masters title.
Dustin Johnson began the day in a tie for second with Stenson, but the US Open champion closed with an erratic 71 to finish on 13 under alongside his Ryder Cup team-mates Matt Kuchar (70) and Rickie Fowler (69).
