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Sentry TOC: What’s Wrong with Hideki Matsuyama?

By Tim Letcher

KAPALUA, HAWAII - JANUARY 08: Hideki Matsuyama of Japan plays a shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the Sentry Tournament Of Champions at the Kapalua Plantation Course on January 08, 2021 in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
KAPALUA, HAWAII - JANUARY 08: Hideki Matsuyama of Japan plays a shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the Sentry Tournament Of Champions at the Kapalua Plantation Course on January 08, 2021 in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Hideki Matsuyama is a very talented player who has won five times on the PGA Tour. But what’s going on at this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions?

Hideki Matsuyama continues to be a mystery on the PGA Tour. The latest example is coming this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Matsuyama came onto the PGA Tour with great promise and high expectations. During his first full year on tour, Matsuyama won the Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus. That’s an event that always attracts a star-studded field and the young star went to Muirfield Village and beat them all.

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In 2016, he won for the second time on tour, taking the title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. That gave him two wins in just over 60 starts on tour, which was a pretty good start.

Then in 2017, it seemed that Matsuyama was ready to take the next step. He won three times on tour that season, defending his title in Phoenix and adding a pair of World Golf Championship titles. Matsuyama won the WGC-HSBC Champions, then won again at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

He was still just 25 years old and seemed to be ready to become one of the best players in the world. Winning more tour events, including majors, seemed like the logical next step.

However, since 2017, Matsuyama has started 71 times on the PGA Tour without a victory. He has had two runner-up finishes during that span, but it has been over three year since he has been a winner.

This week at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, conditions are right for scoring, especially on Friday. As an example, Dustin Johnson shot 8-under par on the day and there were several scores of 7-under par during the round. Matsuyama, on the other hand, tied for the worst round of the day at 2-over par.

That round left Matsuyama as the only player over par through two rounds at the TOC. He is in dead last, 42nd place, four shots behind Mackenzie Hughes.

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For a player with as much talent as Matsuyama, there is no excuse for playing this poorly. Sure, this could be a bad week, but the fact that he hasn’t won on tour in more than three years says this is more.

Matsuyama needs to get it figured out, whatever the issue is, before he wastes the prime of his career.

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