WGC-HSBC Champions Recap: Matsuyama Becomes a Star

When Hideki Matsuyama won for the first time on the PGA Tour as a 22-year-old over a strong field at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament, people took temporary notice. When he took down Rickie Fowler in the Phoenix desert a year later, the reviews were more about Fowler blowing it (in this space included).

There were indicators all along that Matsuyama was destined to be someone special in golf. Yet he never got quite the response merited in relation to his accomplishments.

No more.

Matsuyama blew away an elite field by seven strokes to capture the WGC-HSBC Champions in China on Sunday, becoming the first Asian to win a World Golf Championship event. The stunning margin of victory is the largest ever in a WGC by someone not named Tiger Woods.

The still-only-24-year-old Matsuyama now finds himself at No. 6 in the world rankings, passing the likes of Adam Scott, Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson. And while it's still six months till golfers traverse Magnolia Lane for the first major of the season, Matsuyama put himself squarely into the Masters conversation.

Matsuyama finished T7 at Augusta last year and fifth the year before, and that was without elite putting. Even on a benign course at Sheshan International Golf Club, it says something to crush the field with 29 birdies and a tournament-best 1.537 putting average.

Last season, Matsuyama was 103rd on tour in strokes gained-putting, 86th the season prior and 156th as a rookie in 2014-15. With his monster tee-to-green game, he doesn't have to elevate his putting to Jason Day/Jordan Spieth territory. And clearly, his putting is getting better.

With Matsuyama's all-around game, you can green-light him in DraftKings play in almost any tournament, although his price just went way up. We tabbed him last week when he was runner-up in the CIMB Classic and again for the WGC-HSBC.

We likely won't see the Japanese star again till Kapalua to kick off 2017 with the Tournament of Champions. He'll still be a month shy of turning 25. Among the top golfers, Matsuyama is younger than all but Spieth, 23. So get used to him. He's here to stay.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Rory McIlroy

Perhaps lost amid Matsuyama's historic week was McIlroy taking another step to return to past glory. He tied for fourth to slightly overtake Dustin Johnson (T35) for No. 2 in the OWGR. McIlroy is still a bit behind Jason Day for the top spot, but with the Australian's back woes and the Northern Irishman's recent resurgence, it would not surprise to see a change at the top in 2017. … McIlroy has bowed out of the first stop on the European Tour's Race to Dubai playoffs this week, citing security concerns in Turkey. He'll like return for the next playoff event in South Africa in two weeks.

Rickie Fowler

Fowler tied for sixth, his best showing in more than six months, since a T4 at the Wells Fargo in May. He surely isn't as bad as he was in the latter half of 2015-16, perhaps affected more by his crushing loss to Matsuyama in Phoenix than we knew. But Fowler also has yet to fully place himself in the top echelon of golfers worldwide. It's something to watch for next season, as the soon-to-be 28-year-old enters what should be the prime of his career. Until we see more from Fowler, we won't be ready to buy in.

Patrick Reed

Reed will get a lot of votes for Best Golfer Who Hasn't Won a Major, but clearly it's Matsuyama. Reed struggled during his two-week Asian stint, tying for 60th at Sheshan. It may be a case of the comedown after the Ryder Cup, or Reed may have more than a little Ian Poulter in him: rising in international competition beyond his "regular" game. We'll know more in 2017, but either way, Reed surely needs to recharge after his magnificent autumn.

Danny Willett

It's hard to think that the worst thing that could have happened to Willett was winning the Masters. Of course, it wasn't, but his game has largely gone downhill since April. The Englishman was 75th in the 78-man HSBC field, and based on social media, he has been enjoying his newfound fame as a major champion perhaps a wee bit much. Willett struggled much of the summer and then tanked at the Ryder Cup. His game was on a fast track before the Masters, someone who could be a key Euro in the Ryder Cup for years, and maybe he can find that track again. But he's not someone we want to invest in right now on DraftKings as the Race to Dubai commences this week in Turkey.

Jimmy Walker

Walker did even worse than Willett, tying for 77th (and last) in the field. No one has accused Walker of taking it easy following his major victory at the PGA Championship over the summer. In this instance, the win was out of left field, and Walker is now simply returning to his normal game, one that is trending downward. It wasn't too long ago that Walker made his name during the fall. Those days appear to be over. He'll be playing this week at the Shriners in Las Vegas.

Cody Gribble

Remember this name. (And with a name like Gribble, that probably won't be hard.) The rookie left-hander won the opposite-field Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., on Sunday. The Web.com Tour graduate moved from 448th in the OWGR to 205th with a masterful putting performance: first in birdies, first in SGP, first in putts per GIR. He played the back nine on Sunday in 5-under for a 7-under 65 to run away by four strokes over Chris Kirk, Luke List and veteran Greg Owen. This is the third year in row that someone has come out of nowhere to win the Sanderson, following Peter Malnati last year and Nick Taylor the year before. Gribble can only hope he doesn't fall into oblivion as those two past champions have done.

Chris Kirk

Kirk was the highest-ranked golfer in the Sanderson field at No. 74, and his share of runner-up moved him up a bit to No. 68. This tournament clearly was his for the taking on Sunday, but the 54-hole leader managed only a 2-under 70. Kirk now moves on to the Shriners in Vegas, looking to reach the top-50 in the world by year's end. The field is much stronger this week. Kirk's best chance was last week.

Luke List

List is one of the young bombers on tour (he led the Sanderson at 335.3 yards off the tee). But if you take a closer look, his short game is not so out of whack with his long game. Yes, he blew a prime chance for his maiden PGA Tour win on Sunday, falling short with a pedestrian 2-under 70. List finished 38th in the field in SGP – not nearly good enough to win but not terrible. His scrambling numbers were good. List should continue to be a decent low-priced option in DraftKings play.

Grayson Murray

The golf world was ready for a Murray coronation even before the Sanderson began. And when the WCT grad opened 67-65, the parade planning was under way (we kid, for emphasis). Murray came back to Earth with a 72-71 weekend, but his T8 showing is still impressive. Don't believe all the hype on Murray, at least not yet. He should be a fine player, but he's still only a rookie and will begin playing in much tougher fields, beginning this week in Vegas.