2024 Genesis Invitational leaderboard, scores: Hideki Matsuyama shoots 62 to win from six strokes back in L.A.

Remember him? Hideki Matsuyama chased down and raced past a star-studded leaderboard Sunday at Riviera Country Club to claim the 2024 Genesis Invitational, coming back from six strokes off the lead to win his first PGA Tour event since January 2022. Carding a sensational final round 9-under 62 that included a back-nine 30, Matsuyama finished the week at 17 under for a three-stroke victory over Will Zalatoris and Luke List

With nine birdies and no bogeys on the afternoon, Matsuyama posted the second-lowest round in course history and the lowest in the fourth round of a tournament at Riviera. The ninth PGA Tour victory of his career is his first since the 2022 Sony Open.

Matsuyama's win at Riviera adds to an impressive résumé of triumphs at some of the nation's top courses: Augusta National, Muirfield Village, Firestone Country Club. The 31-year-old now holds a major championship, two World Golf Championships and a signature event to his name.

A year after missing the Tour Championship, Matsuyama is now on the inside track to return to East Lake. His victory comes with an elevated 700 FedEx Cup points -- thrusting him to third place in the standings -- and a cool $4 million, the largest winner's share of his career.

While Matsuyama topped the field at the culmination of 72 holes, he was hardly top of mind with 18 to play. Beginning the day at 8 under and a half dozen strokes behind 18-, 36- and 54-hole leader Patrick Cantlay, Japan's top star was believed to be a non-factor given not only his deficit but the laundry list of names that separated his from the top of the leaderboard.

Still, Matsuyama went about his business and got off to the type of start required to make a memorable Sunday charge.

"I wasn't striking the ball really well, but my chipping and putting was working a lot this week," said Matsuyama through an interpreter after the round.

A turkey of birdies out the gate -- a common theme in his final round -- set the pace. Six straight pars put a bow on a front-nine 32 and set the scene for a back-nine performance reminiscent of his third round at the 2021 Masters. Again, Matsuyama put three consecutive birdies on his scorecard as he took advantage of the drivable par-4 10th and par-5 11th. A bonus birdie arrived from just inside 50 feet on the difficult par-4 12th.

Matsuyama made pars on Nos. 13-14 and found himself in the lead once List started his inward half with three straight fives. However, they were soon joined by Zalatoris, Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in a five-way tie at 14 under. That only stood for a moment, however, as Matsuyama found a new gear and left his counterparts in the dust.

An approach stuck to 8 inches arrived on the 15th to put Matsuyama alongside Zalatoris, who tacked on one of his own on the 13th. Hideki's next iron shot from the tee of the par-3 16th resulted in his ball settling to just 6 inches to set up another birdie. As fast as this tournament tightened, it was busted open by Matsuyama, whose lead climbed to three when he made birdie on the par-5 17th – his last turkey of the day -- and Zalatoris found trouble on the 15th.

One last birdie bid on the par-4 finisher ultimately did not fall for a share of the course record and a potential back-nine 29, but that would have been a cherry on top. The rest of Matsuyama's final round was reminder enough of the type of golfer -- and champion -- he can be. Grade: A+

Here are the grades for the rest of the leaderboard at the 2024 Genesis Invitational.

T2. Will Zalatoris (-14): Zalatoris seemed like an unlikely champion at the beginning of the week given how little he's played over the last year. However, he nearly pulled off the victory. Even before this week, his trajectory was good. After a missed cut at the Sony Open, he steadily improved at the American Express and Farmers Insurance Open. Now? He's back into that that top tier of favorites at the majors, including Augusta National. (Perhaps you've heard that Augusta a pretty decent facsimile for Riviera?) Grade: A+

Luke List also finished T2.

T4. Patrick Cantlay (-13): For most of the tournament, the title was in Cantlay's grap ... only for the final 20 holes to be his undoing. Beginning with a poor bogey on the par-5 17th during Saturday's third round, Cantlay's tournament-record five-stroke lead at the halfway point was trimmed to two with one round to go. A par on the par-5 opener set the tone for the final round as he was stuck in mud most of the day unable to muster any mojo together. Still, the former FedEx Cup champion found himself in a share of the lead with seven holes to play. Bogeys on the 13th and 15th, combined with Matsuyama's heater, ultimately saw Cantlay get lapped and not be a factor the last few holes. Grade: A-

Xander Schauffele, Adam Hadwin also finished T4.

T10. Scottie Scheffler (-8): Here's everything you need to know about Scheffler right now. When Rory McIlroy joined the broadcast after his round to chat for a bit, he advocated that Scheffler try a mallet putter instead of a blade but then said Scheffler does everything else so well that he is giving everyone else a chance by not going to the mallet. This will not surprise you, but Scheffler finished 2nd in the field from tee to green and 51st (of 51 who played the weekend) with the putter. New week, same Scottie. The amazing part is that everyone talks about Scheffler like he has absolutely no clue what ails him, yet he still finished in the top 10. Grade: B-

MC. Justin Thomas (+3): It was a disappointing conclusion to the West Coast swing for J.T. He was excellent for most of the swing but missed the smallest possible cut Friday after opening 72-73. His problem was mostly related to approach play. If this was a year ago, one might conclude that this is a massive issue, but given how good he's been for the last several months, it's fine to call it a one off and expect a bounce back when he restarts in Florida over the next few weeks. Grade: F

DQ. Jordan Spieth: What a strange and bizarre sport. Spieth was inside the top 10 at Riviera for most of the first few days before signing for an incorrect scorecard on Friday. After a one-bogey 66 in the first round, you had to know something insane was coming on Friday. It's just that no one realized it would result in Spieth not even playing the event on Saturday and Sunday. Grade: F

WD. Tiger Woods: Explaining on social media that he came down with influenza this week, Tiger put his withdrawal into more clear context. Riviera was a bizarre scene for a few hours, but the bottom line with Woods is that -- for the fourth time in his last six starts worldwide -- he had to withdraw or missed the cut at an event. There are varied reasons for this early dismissals, but the general trajectory from a golf standpoint is not great. Woods looked fine when he did play Thursday, but flu aside, he did not display a tee-to-green game that excited me as it relates to the major championships. Grade: C+