Matsuyama wins Phoenix Open playoff — again
Hideki Matsuyama won the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament on the fourth hole of a playoff for the second straight year, outlasting Webb Simpson on Sunday at TPC Scottsdale.
Matsuyama won with a 10-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 17th, the same hole where the 24-yearold Japanese star finished off Rickie Fowler a year ago.
Matsuyama closed with a 5under 66, parring the final three holes to match Simpson at 17under 267. Simpson birdied three of the last four for a 64, the best round of the day.
The tournament drew an estimated 58,654 fans Sunday to shatter the weekly record with 655,434. The previous mark of 618,365 was set last year. A record 204,906 packed the grounds Saturday.
Matsuyama took advantage of third-round leader Byeong Hun An’s back-nine collapse. Three strokes ahead of Matsuyama, An bogeyed the first two holes on the back nine and closed with two more. The South Korean player had a 73 to finish sixth at 14 under.
Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., entered the day tied for third but shot a 71 in his final round to finish tied for ninth. Adam Hadwin (66) of Abbotsford, B.C. tied for 12th.
Matsuyama won his second PGA Tour title of the season and fourth overall. He has won five worldwide events in the last 3½ months, also taking the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, two events in Japan and Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge.
He’s the sixth player to successfully defend a title in the event and the first to do it at TPC Scottsdale. The other five are Hall of Famers Ben Hogan (1946-47), Jimmy Demaret (’49-50), Lloyd Mangrum (’52-53), Arnold Palmer (’61-63) and Johnny Miller (’74-75). The Japanese player also is the first to win a playoff in an event two straight years since Ernie Els in the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2003-04.