More Major Kudos for Consistent Matsuyama
Pinehurst, North Carolina, United States: A second Major title may have eluded him, but Hideki Matsuyama had much to be proud of after clinching a sixth-place finish in the 124th edition of the US Open. The 32-year-old Japanese closed with a second...
Pinehurst, North Carolina, United States: A second Major title may have eluded him, but Hideki Matsuyama had much to be proud of after clinching a sixth-place finish in the 124th edition of the US Open.
The 32-year-old Japanese closed with a second successive even-par 70 at the Pinehurst No. 2 course.
His four-day total of two-under 278 was four shots behind American Bryson DeChambeau, who edged Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy by a single stroke to capture his second US Open title.
The only other players to finish ahead of Matsuyama were Americans Tony Finau and Patrick Cantlay (276) and Frenchman Matthieu Pavon (277).
A model of consistency throughout the week, Matsuyama’s final round comprised of 16 pars, a solitary birdie (13th) and one bogey (ninth).
“Obviously it was tough conditions and my ball-striking wasn’t great,” said the two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winner, who rued numerous missed birdie opportunities.
Nonetheless, Matsuyama was one of only a handful of players in the elite field to go through the four rounds without anything worse than a bogey on his card.
In what was his 12th appearance in the US Open, Matsuyama posted his fourth top-10 finish, his Pinehurst performance bettered only by a joint second place finish at Erin Hills in 2017 and a solo fourth at The Country Club in 2022. He’s only missed the cut once, at Oakmont Country Club in 2016.
Furthermore, the 2021 Masters Tournament winner, had the distinction of extending the longest current streak of making the cut in Major championships to 17.
Matsuyama was one of six AAC participants who made the cut at Pinehurst.
Also playing all four rounds were Australian Min Woo Lee (tied 21st, 285), Korean Kim Si-woo and Australian Cameron Smith (tied 32nd, 287), and Korean SH Kim Seong-hyeon and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox (tied 56th, 292).
SH Kim signed off with a two-under 68 – a 15-stroke improvement on his third round 83. His bid for only the fifth bogey-free round of the championship ended with a five on the par-four closing hole.
