Hideki Matsuyama: FedEx Cup Contender or Pretender?
By Tim Letcher
Hideki Matsuyama has the game, he simply needs to take the next step. Could that step be winning the FedEx Cup title this season?
Hideki Matsuyama is one of the most gifted players on the PGA Tour. During his seven years on the tour, Matsuyama has gone toe-to-toe with the world’s best golfers and more than held his own.
Now 28 years old, Matsuyama is ready to take the next step in his career. While proving that he can compete in major championships and in tournaments with talented fields (like the Players Championship), Matsuyama now needs to win in one of those big situations to make that leap to be among the game’s elite.
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Matsuyama has five career PGA Tour wins, with two of those coming in World Golf Championship events. His best finish in a major was a tie for second at the 2017 U.S. Open. But he has yet to close the deal in a major, something that the golf world continues to wait for him to do.
This season has been another solid one, with Matsuyama making 10 cuts in 11 starts. In fact, he missed his only cut in his first start of the season, at the Safeway Open, and has made every cut since.
And it’s not just that Matsuyama is making cuts. He’s also competing week in and week out. He has eight top 25 finishes and four top 10s this year.
His best finish this season was a second place spot at the Zozo Championship in October. Matsuyama tied for third at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges and tied for fifth at the Genesis Invitational.
Matsuyama will have three chances to win majors this fall, now that the PGA Tour schedule has been officially announced. If he can do that, there would be a couple of positive outcomes. One, he would get that elusive major and prove to the world that he is an elite, not just a really good, player. And two, he would remain in contention for the FedEx Cup.
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Matsuyama has proven to be a factor in past FedEx Cup championships. He has finished in the top 30 for the past six years and has been in the top 15 for the past four years. He is a contender for the FedEx Cup each and every year. And it won’t be a surprise when he wins the cup one day.