Hideki Matsuyama joins Hogan’s Heroes with historic Genesis Invitational scorching

Hideki Matsuyama did the unthinkable on Sunday, scorching Riviera Country Club en route to running away with the Genesis Invitational title. In doing so, he conquered the track known as ‘Hogan’s Alley.’

A gorgeous statue of Ben Hogan, who won the 1948 U.S. Open at Riviera, still stands and overlooks the 18th green.

But on Sunday, Matsuyama stood above the rest of the field, winning by three shots. He fired a 9-under 62 on Sunday, the lowest score of the week. It is also the lowest final-round score ever recorded at Riviera, per Justin Ray of The Athletic.

Nobody could have ever guessed that Matsuyama would climb into contention, let alone easily win.

Not even Matsuyama himself thought so.

“To answer that question, no,” Matsuyama said when asked if he thought he could win Sunday.

Hideki Matsuyama celebrates after winning the 2024 Genesis Invitational.

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Getty Images

“I was not feeling comfortable with my ball-striking, so I was kind of thinking, ‘Hey, I’m going to have a couple of missed shots today,’ but maybe that kind of worked out.”

Things worked out for the 2021 Masters champion, who began the day at 8-under, six shots behind 54-hole leader Patrick Cantlay.

But he opened his final round with three straight birdies to put himself into contention.

He then made three straight birdies again on the 10th, 11th, and 12th holes, which got him to 14-under. At that point, he held a share of the lead with four other players: Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Luke List, and Will Zalatoris.

Matsuyama then made two easy pars on 13 and 14, as he turned to the par-4 15th. By then, Zalatoris had jumped up to 15-under, but nobody would stop Matsuyama.

Not today.

He hit the shot of the day at the challenging par-4 15th, hitting his second shot from 189 yards to a mere inches. He tapped in for birdie, only the third birdie allowed by the 15th on Sunday.

Many of his competitors stumbled on the 15th, the second-hardest hole at Riviera this week. That only increased the value of his superb second shot, as he gained even more strokes on the field by walking away with an easy three.

And yet, Matsuyama was not finished.

That second shot was a perfect shot,” Matsuyama said of 15. “So I had a great momentum right there. I hit it maybe like five yards to the right of my [target].”

On the very next hole, the beautiful par-3 16th, Matsusyama struck his tee shot to six inches—even closer than his strike on the hole prior.

He tapped in for birdie once again, and suddenly, Matsuyama held the solo lead at 16-under.

“Yeah, on 16, I hit it maybe like five yards to the right of my target [again],” Matsuyama added. “But it became a good shot. All is good.”

He would not look back after these ‘good’ shots.

On the pivotal par-5 17th, Matsuyama avoided the bunker off the tee and stripped his tee shot down the middle of the fairway. From there, he flushed a 3-wood up and over the green, and got up-and-down for birdie—his ninth of the day.

Unlike Cantlay on the day prior, Matsuyama took advantage of the 17th, and when his birdie putt dropped on Riviera’s penultimate hole, the tournament was all but over.

Matsuyama then had zero trouble on 18, as he easily won the PGA Tour’s third signature event of the year. It also marked the ninth win of his PGA Tour career, which carries plenty of historical significance.

“Reaching nine wins was one of my big goals, passing [South Korean] KJ Choi,” Matsuyama added.

“After my eighth win [at the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii], I’ve been struggling with my back injury. There were a lot of times when I felt that I was never going to win again. I struggled reaching the top-10, but I’m really happy that I was able to win today.”

Matsuyama needed to overcome back and neck injuries to return to the winner’s circle, where a $4 million check and 700 FedEx Cup points awaited him.

But ultimately, his Sunday 62 at Riviera will live on forever, just as Hogan’s presence always has and always will.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.