Matsuyama put on a masterclass in scoring during the PGA Tour’s opening event of 2025
The year may have changed, but Hideki Matsuyama is still all the same. Reaching 35 under for at the 2025 Sentry, Matsuyama fended off Collin Morikawa for a three-stroke victory at the PGA Tour’s season opener. Matsuyama’s triumph marks the 11th title of his PGA Tour career — the third in his last 16 PGA Tour starts dating back to last season — and his 20th worldwide win.
Matsuyama’s 35-under total is the lowest score in relation to par in PGA Tour history. Besting the old record of 34 under (Cameron Smith, 2022 Sentry), Matsuyama made easy work of the Plantation Course at Kapalua. His 33 birdies and two eagles also stand as a new PGA Tour record for birdies or better made in a 72-hole tournament, which was previously held by Sungjae Im from, you guessed it, the 2024 Sentry.
Last year’s Olympic bronze medalist, Matsuyama also improved his record as a 36-hole leader. Commanding the seventh lead of his career at the halfway point, he converted his advantage into his fourth victory while in that position. It is his second straight conversion with his last coming in most recent prior victory, the 2024 St. Jude Championship.
Beginning the final round with a one-stroke lead, Matsuyama made his move early against Morikawa. A pair of pars settled him into the final stroll around the Plantation Course before the big bird landed on the par-4 3rd. Finding the bottom of the cup from 106 yards, Matsuyama doubled his lead as Morikawa tried to keep up with a birdie of his own.
Matsuyama’s margin doubled from two to four in the span of as many holes as Morikawa hit a speed bump on the greens. Penciling back-to-back fives on his scorecard, Morikawa gave Matsuyama plenty of breathing room as the two entered the more accessible part of the golf course.
The leading duo exchanged three birdies from Nos. 8-11 before Morikawa finally found a gap on the short par-4 14th. Getting up and down from the bunker, which spelled his doom in 2022, the two-time major champion gave Matsuyama something to think about down the closing stretch. Morikawa made up more ground on the next hole and trimmed the lead to two with three to play.
That was as close as he got as Matsuyama slammed the door shut with a timely birdie on No. 16. One last birdie from the blade of Matsuyama came on the 72nd hole giving the man from Japan the PGA Tour scoring record, the PGA Tour birdie record, and most importantly, the first trophy of the 2025 PGA Tour season. Grade: A+
Here are the grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2025 Sentry
2. Collin Morikawa (-32): After missing just two greens in regulation across his first 54 holes, Morikawa missed his first two in the final round. His iron play proved to be the least of his worries as it was his putter which ultimately let him down in the middle portion of his front nine. Finding the surface in two on the par-5 5th, Morikawa needed three putts from inside 30 feet. Three more putts came on the next hole and forced him to put a square on his scorecard for only the second time all week.
At that point, Morikawa found himself four strokes behind; a third score of five on the front nine — coming on the par-5 9th — did nothing to help his cause. He applied some pressure late, but it ultimately was not enough to catch Matsuyama. Morikawa’s latest close call marks his second runner-up finish and sixth top 10 in six trips to Kapalua. Grade: A
3. Sungjae Im (-29): Im crept up the leaderboard over the weekend thanks to a 62 on Moving Day and a 65 on Sunday. While he found himself on the podium by tournament’s end, the South Korean never really sniffed the winner’s circle. It’s a concerning trend for the 26-year-old as he continues to pile up quality results but without raising a trophy. Not since the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open has Im won on the PGA Tour, which is far too long for a player of his caliber. Grade: A-
T25. Will Zalatoris (-19): Zalatoris alternated strong rounds with mundane days throughout his week at Kapalua. Opening with a 65 on the most difficult scoring day, the right hander found himself in contention for the first time in a long time. His name slowly trickled down the leaderboard as the tournament progressed as he failed to hole putts with consistency with the broomstick in hand. Despite a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball in the final round, it was a solid start for Zalatoris, who entered the season up nearly 20 pounds of muscle. Grade: C+
T25. Justin Thomas (-19): The year of J.T. will have to wait … at least until the West Coast swing. High expectations were placed on the two-time major champion given his run of form in the fall, but they were all for naught at Kapalua. Thomas struggled with the big stick and lost a pair of golf balls in his first two rounds leading to a couple of big numbers. While the putter was poor for most of the tournament, Thomas found something on Sunday when he led the field on the greens en route to final-round 63. Grade: C
T30. Xander Schauffele (-17): Schauffele made double bogey on the fourth hole of his tournament, which pretty much told the tale of his week. While there was plenty of scoring done, the world No. 2 piled on too many mistakes to seriously threaten the first few pages of the leaderboard. He cleaned up his act over the weekend and carded just one bogey over his final 36 holes, but by then, the damage was done. His approach play was the lone bright spot in his game as other facets appeared rusty. Grade: D
