The opening week of the 2025 PGA Tour season does not necessarily make a year, but it does make for a good reminder. Amid prognostications of Scottie Scheffler winning every tournament, Collin Morikawa returning to his winning ways and Justin Thomas continuing his path back to the top of the golf world, Hideki Matsuyama stood silently in offseason discussions.
Besting Morikawa by three strokes and setting the all-time scoring record to par in PGA Tour history, Matsuyama reached 35 under at the Sentry for his 11th career victory on the PGA Tour. His 35 birdies or better also made for a new PGA Tour record and catapulted his name back to where it belongs -- at the forefront of the conversation.
It is not as if Matsuyama limped into the 2025 season (though he did admit Sunday evening he was getting over an illness); rather, he began this campaign coming off a 2024 in which he was the third best player on the PGA Tour. After winning perhaps the biggest tournament on the PGA Tour schedule outside The Players Championship, donning the bronze medal at the Olympic games and raising the first trophy of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the 32-year-old went unappreciated entering the new year.
"September, November, December, I really didn't get to play too much golf, so I kind of forgot about the last two [wins]," he said. "So, I think this is kind of the beginning."
Matsuyama's worldwide tally now stretches to 20 trophies with those coming on the PGA Tour holding up against any scrutiny. he has reigned supreme on golf courses such as Riviera, Muirfield Village, Firestone, TPC Scottsdale (twice), and oh yeah, Augusta National. That's in addition to his most recent victory at Kapalua.
He is one of four players since 1976 to win at Riviera, Muirfield Village and Augusta with the others being Jon Rahm, Fred Couples and Tom Watson. With his latest victory, Matsuyama is just the seventh player to win both PGA Tour events in Hawaii.
Still, it feels as if flowers have never been delivered to his doorstep, which begs the question … why?
There are a few reasons. For beginners, Matsuyama is quiet -- he sticks to himself and works with his team and his team alone. While he deals with a gaggle of media members from his native Japan, his interactions with the American counterparts are often rightfully short and sometimes through a translator.
He has also never been the best player in the world despite his longevity. Just take a look at these blind resumes.
| Player | Age | PGA Tour wins | Major wins | Major top 10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A | 32 | 11 | 1 | 10 |
B | 31 | 13 | 3 | 14 |
C | 31 | 15 | 2 | 7 |
Labeled as Player A in the above table, Matsuyama holds somewhat similar accomplishments to those of Jordan Spieth (Player B) and Thomas (Player C), but he has never reached the world No. 1 ranking. The closest he has gotten in the Official World Golf Rankings is No. 2 following the 2017 U.S. Open.
That season also happened to be the best of his career as he won a pair of World Golf Championships, the Hero World Challenge and the WM Phoenix Open, but it was one that was ultimately overshadowed. He finished runner up to Brooks Koepka at Erin Hills and was outmaneuvered by Thomas over the weekend at the PGA Championship. That 2017 season is largely remembered for what Thomas accomplished, not necessarily what Matsuyama achieved.
And finally, there is the injury bug which has plagued him throughout his career. Matsuyama has withdrawn from his fair share of events due to back and neck injuries over the years, including at this past summer's BMW Championship when he had won the week prior. It marked his sixth WD dating back to the summer of 2021.
Despite all this, Matsuyama has still earned more praise than he has been given. He has won 20 times (20!) around the world. He has statistically been the best iron player on the PGA Tour over the last 11 years. He consistently shows up at big-time events on big-time courses. He has been a consummate professional, and a great one at that.
"I have goals within myself," Matsuyama said. "And I'm not going to say it right here, but there are unfinished business that I have set for myself that I still am striving to get to."
