Before the final round of the Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods offered a specific challenge to Hideki Matsuyama: Shoot 10 under and you’ll win this thing.
Matsuyama didn’t quite get there, but he got close: Nine under par on 19 holes, a final-round 64 plus a birdie on the first playoff hole, enough to edge out Alex Noren and beat out a star-studded Hero field.
“Tiger is my idol,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “A couple years ago in L.A., we couldn’t take picture, but nine years ago was the first time able to take picture with Tiger and I wanted to
take a picture with Tiger [again]. That’s why I played well in Tiger’s event.”
Matsuyama was referring to his win at the 2024 Genesis Invitational, the other event Woods hosts, but Woods withdrew that week and wasn’t part of the winner’s ceremony. Matsuyama also won the Hero in 2016; Woods finished 15th that week and stuck around to present the trophy.
The win was Matsuyama’s first in 2025, and even though it’s unofficial by PGA Tour standards, it’s the ideal way to enter the offseason after what was, by the Japanese star’s lofty standards, a middling season.
“It was very tough season for me,” Matsuyama said. “[I talked to my] swing coach in Japan, every night and I was just able to play great.”
The fireworks came early and often for Matsuyama in the final round; he made five birdies on the front nine and then holed out from 116 yards for an eagle 2 at No. 10. Seven pars and a birdie the rest of the way was enough to get him into a playoff with Noren, who birdied 15, 16 and 18 to match him at 22 under par.
But when the two returned to 18 for the first sudden-death playoff hole, Matsuyama seized control of the tournament with a flagged 9-iron from 166 yards to three feet. When Noren’s birdie putt slid by the edge, Matsuyama finished out for birdie and the win.
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