Hideki Matsuyama Wins 2024 Genesis Invitational Breaking a 38-Year-Long Riviera Record

The Tiger Woods-hosted event crowns its champion. The 2024 Genesis Invitational saw Hideki Matsuyama take home the win among the field of 70 golfers, two of whom, Woods and Jordan Spieth, exited the tournament halfway through. Moreover, he was able to do so by registering 9 under 62 on the final day, pushing past the likes of Will Zalatoris, and Luke List, who were tied at T2, to clinch the title of champion. Moreover, he was also able to card the lowest-ever final round by a PGA Tour winner at Riviera, beating the record made by Doug Tewell’s 63 in 1986.

By carding a total of 267 (-17), the pro was able to defeat the runner-ups by a total of 3 strokes. Meanwhile, he also took home a winner’s cut of $4 million from the total prize pool of $20 million. Truly a scintillation win for the golfer, marking his ninth victory on the PGA Tour, the last of which came in 2022 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The Japanese pro shot a total of 20 birdies over the four days at Riviera Country Club, nine of which came at the crucial final round, propelling him past the top five golfers from T6 to T1. Besides, he also scored an eagle on Friday along with three bogeys and a double bogey to register the top score of the tournament and clinch the trophy even before the likes of Zalatoris or List finished their rounds for the final day.

With the victory at the third signature event on the men’s circuit, the golfer is currently projected to be placed in the third position on the 2024 FedEx Cup standings. His win would enable him to receive a total of 700 points, adding to the 125.035 he gained over five tournaments to produce figures of 825.035, all the while jumping 54 places.

The event last year was a full-field one, awarding a total of 67.19877 points to Jon Rahm who won the same. However, surprisingly, this year the winner of the limited-field tourney is slated to be able to gain numbers of 68.5457, which is 1.34693 more than what the 2023 champ received. Nevertheless, the current No. 55 in the world would be able to jump to the top 25 on the OWGR with the points he would be able to gain.

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A record finish by the Japanese Pro

The 31-year-old was able to beat the course record for the lowest ever by a champion of an event during a final round at the Riviera Country Club. Tewell, the previous record-holder’s feat came at the 60th Los Angeles Open, when he shot 14 strokes under par with numbers of 69-72-66-63–270, to claim the title of champion.

The professional carded out scores of 69-68-68-62 over the four days of play. Meanwhile, his final day’s 62 was just a stroke more than his career lowest of 61, which came in the 4th round of the 2017 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Nevertheless, it was truly an amazing performance by the Japanese Pro and truly deserves a huge round of applause!

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