Sony Open Finish Highlights What We Should See More Often In Big Time Golf
Hideki Matsuyama's tactical decision and a go-for-the-green 3-wood shows what can make pro golf genuinely thrilling.
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By now you’ve probably seen the 276-yard 3-wood played by Hideki Matsuyama in the Sony Open’s first sudden death playoff hole. And if not…
Everything about the execution was magnificent: overcoming sun in his eyes, the high stakes, and the need to carry it all the way onto Waialae’s slightly-elevated 18th green. The ball finished under 3 feet from the hole. After Russell Henley finished dilly-dallying around, Matsuyama made the short eagle putt to win.
But what went on prior to the shot highlighted how rarely we witness such an idyllic blend of skill, smarts, guts and glory in our hot yoga-fueled, distance-dominated era of pro golf.
In regulation and trailing Russell Henley by one stroke, Matsuyama teed his ball as far right as he could and unleashed the 18th’s longest drive of the day:
This left a 6-iron approach and an easy two-putt birdie while Henley played out of the fairway bunker, left himself a long third and barely missed a tournament-winning birdie putt.
In the sudden-death playoff, Henley went first and again put his tee shot in the same fairway bunker. Matsuyama noted this and adjusted, pulling out his 3-wood for safety. This set up a 276-yard approach.
Here is what he said after the round:
Q. Talk about the shot in the playoff.
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: It was a perfect number for me for a cut 3-wood, 276 yards left to right, follow wind.
I knew the green was soft enough to hold it, and I was able to pull it off.
Q. Did you know it was good when you hit it?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: To be honest I didn't even see it.
Q. It was a good shot.
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: But everybody started cheering and I knew it was good.
Besides making an impressive tactical adjustment moments after a swing-out-of-your-shoes 338-yarder that most lesser men to try again, the current Masters champion resisted the driver temptation in the face of Henley’s predicament. That alone was incredible given the launch-angle modern game analytics saying distance always supersedes a fairway hit.
From the short grass Matsuyama “went” for a par-5 from a max distance and pulled off a shot we’ll see for years to come. He did not have to clear the tributary of Rae’s Creek or some steep-faced bunker. But Matsuyama did need to carry his shot onto the elevated green to have an eagle putt. And he did it without the benefit of a target view. These are the little things that golf fans appreciate and which they will gladly explain to any casual observer who might roll their eyes at the horror of playing into a setting sun.
The moment offered a glorious reminder of how rarely we see players make a strategic decision under pressure and against the expected, and pull off an oh-so-rare “going for the green” moment. There aren’t many more thrilling things a professional golfer can do. But creating stages for them to do so has become almost impossible with the surge in distances this century. Getting back more give-and-take between course and player can deliver the excitement we deserve to see way more often.
So file Matsuyama’s Sony Open moment away for the next time someone insists fans prefer seeing elite players bomb tee shots. It’s what they do after those tee shots that demonstrates how pros are different from the rest of us. And that’s fun to watch.
Couldn't have said it better, Geoff. Real golf. Why the game is great!