Hideki Matsuyama of Japan made birdie on the fourth playoff hole to squeeze past former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson of the U.S. and win the waste management phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. For Matsuyama, it was the second straight year in which he went to four extra holes to claim victory at the event in Arizona. In 2016, he captured the title when he made a par at No. 17 while Rickie Fowler of the U.S. carded a bogey. Simpson caught Matsuyama at 17-under 267 for the tournament with a fourth-round run of seven-under 64, while Matsuyama posted a final day score of five-under 66.
Both men came up clutch down the stretch at the event which featured the loudest gallery on the PGA Tour. The triumph for the red-hot Matsuyama was his fifth in his last nine global starts.
Scores $1,206,000 first-place check
The winning performance for the fifth-place player in the Official World Golf Rankings scored him the $1,206,000 first-place check, and catapulted him back into the top spot, past Justin Thomas of the U.S. in the PGA Tour's FedExCup standings. The Srixon-Cleveland Golf staff member has earned 1,697 points to 1,614 points for Thomas, after most of his leading number came after his two wins in Hawaii – the SBS Tournament of Champions and The Sony Open – and a victory in the fall at the CIMB Classic.
Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, a former British Open champion, came in third in the desert with a final tally of 16-under 268, while Fowler and tour rookie J.J. Spaun of the U.S. were T4 at 15-under 269. Byeong Hun An of South Korea finished solo sixth after leading the tournament. The South Korean posted a shaky final round score of two-over 73 to skid down the leaderboard to 14-under 270.
Daniel Berger of the U.S. and Scotland’s Martin Laird were T7 at 13-under 271.
Undefeated in three playoffs
Matsuyama now owns a career total of four official PGA Tour titles (three in playoffs where he is undefeated) to lead all players from Japan in career wins on the tour, and he is the first player from the country to successfully defend a PGA Tour championship.
Matsuyama used Srixon’s Z 965 irons (4-pitching wedge), Cleveland Golf’s 588 RTX 2.0 Precision Forged wedges 52 degrees, 56 degrees and 60 degrees, and a Srixon Z-STAR XV ball to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
