2025 Sentry leaderboard, grades: Hideki Matsuyama fends off Collin Morikawa, sets PGA Tour scoring record
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.
Source: CBSSPORTS
