Play.
Matsuyama won the Sony Open in a sudden-death playoff.
Hideki Matsuyama eagled the first playoff hole to beat Russell Henley for his second PGA win of the season. (0:48)
10:46 PM
Hideki Matsuyama was five shots behind at the turn, and he was trying to stay in the game.
He couldn't see one of the best shots of his career when he looked up.
Matsuyama hit a 3-wood from 281 yards, right into the sun, and had no idea that it would settle 3 feet away for an eagle on the par-5 18th, until he heard an enormous cheer from one of the largest galleries at the tournament.
Matsuyama said he didn't see it. I knew it was good when everyone started cheering.
Matsuyama tied K.J. Choi for most tour victories by an Asian-born player with eight.
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This was the most unlikely thing for the Masters champion.
After a par save on the first hole, he made five one-putts in a row, including a 3-foot eagle, to build a five-shot lead.
He never made a second one the rest of the way. He had a 10-foot putt on the 18th in regulation to win, and he had a pair of tough par saves on the back nine. He had to settle for a 65 after it caught the right edge of the cup.
I made the par saves I needed to make to put pressure on Hideki, but I was a little sloppy on the back nine. He played a great golf today. I wish I had put more pressure on him. It was difficult to beat 3-wood to 2 feet.
Matsuyama went with 3-wood in the playoff because he was not able to reach the fairway in the fairway on the 18th.
Matsuyama had a perfect number for his high fade, a 3-wood, and a breeze from the left to the right off the Pacific Ocean.
He held up his hand to shield himself from the sun. The roar told him everything he needed to know.
After laying up out of the sand, he sent his wedge over the green and made a bogey. It didn't matter by then.
Hideki Matsuyama tied K.J. Choi for most victories by an Asian-born player on the PGA Tour with his win at the Sony Open on Sunday.
Matsuyama tapped in his eagle putt for his second win of the season. He needed this shot to finish with an eagle. His eagle at the Zozo Championship gave him a five-shot victory.
Matsuyama was familiar with the Sony Open. It was there that Aoki became the first Japanese player to win on the PGA Tour.
Matsuyama said he was over the moon to follow him up.
They finished with a score of 257. Matsuyama had his 13th round in the 60s on the final day of the Summit in Las Vegas.
Kevin Kisner and Seamus Power were tied for third.
Even if it looked like a runaway at the turn, this was a two-man race.
Many of the crowd yelled "Sugoi!" after Matsuyama made a pair of early birdies, as he was within one shot of the lead.
He held his nerve. He made a 10-foot par putt at the fifth to keep the lead. That appeared to free him, for he went on a tear from there, with a tap-in, 8-foot, 3-foot, and eagle on the par-5 ninth.
Matsuyama three-putted for par and was five shots behind.
"Russell was playing so well in the front nine, but at the turn I was wondering if he could keep this up." Matsuyama spoke through his interpreter.
Matsuyama started the back nine with a bogey, and then a two-shot swing followed on the 11th, when he holed a 12-foot par.
Matsuyama made a 20-foot putt on the 15th to get back into the lead, while Henley saved two big pars on the 13th and 14th.
The big finish was set up by that.
Matsuyama's long putt that rolled near his marker turned left as he looked closely at it. His 10-foot putt did not go in the playoff.
It was the fifth time that he had at least a share of the 54-hole lead and failed to convert it into a win.
It hurts. "I played some great golf," he said. I felt like I was in it the whole time. I've been close to the lead in the last couple years, but I didn't have many mental lapses. I feel like I was there. Just got to keep going.
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