Pressure exists in all shapes and sizes. That fact was quite clear while watching the final round of the Zozo Championship at Narashino Country Club outside Tokyo.
Hideki Matsuyama, the leader by one at 10 under par over Cameron Tringale after 54 holes, felt one type of pressure on Sunday. The 29-year-old, making his 201st career PGA Tour start this week, is an icon in his home country after becoming the first Japanese male to win a major championship with his Masters victory in April. A “golfing Elvis” was how Pat Perez described Matsuyama and the following from golf fans that he has in his native country. Indeed, add the attention given to nearly every other golfer in the field this week—including Xander Schauffele who won a gold medal in Tokyo this summer—and you still don’t have as many cameras and media following as there are for Matsuyama.
That pressure was tested when Matsuyama had his final-round lead slip away only for him to retake it dramatic fashion with three back-nine birdies and an eagle on the 18th hole at Narashino Country Club outside Japan to win by five shots with a closing 65. In so doing, he avenged his runner-up showing to Tiger Woods in the inaugural Zozo Championship as well as going medal-less at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. His seven career PGA Tour win was also the third time in six attempts to close out a win while leading with 18 holes left, the others coming at the 2016 WGC-HSBC Champions and the 2021 Masters.
Meanwhile, Tringale, with a closing 69 that included back0to-back bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes, will have to continue to live with the pressure he felt, an internal pressure that emanates from something missing in an otherwise impressive PGA Tour career. The 34-year-old Georgia Tech grad was making his 314th PGA Tour start and is still searching for his first win. For the second time in three weeks he was in position to shed the ignominious label of being the tour pro to have earned the most money in his PGA Tour career without a victory. Instead his lead in that category increased ($15,398,001).
With Matsuyama’s win, he took home a prize money payout of $1.791 million from an overall prize money payout at the Zozo Championship is $9.95 million. Below is the prize money payout for each golfer who played 72 holes in the no-cut tournament.
Win: Hideki Matsuayma, -15, $1,791,000
T-2: Camerona Tringale, -10, $875,600
T-2: Brendan Steele, -10, $875,600
T-4: Mackenzie Hughes, -6, $411,266.67
T-4: Matt Wallace, -6, $411,266.67
T-4: Sebastian Munoz, -6, $411,266.67
T-7: Lanto Griffin, -5, $259,321.88
T-7: Keegan Bradley, -5, $259,321.88
T-7: Takumi Kanaya, -5, $259,321.88
T-7: Luke List, -5, $259,321.88
T-7: Sam Ryder, -5, $259,321.88
T-7: Tommy Fleetwood, -5, $259,321.88
T-7: Collin Morikawa, -5, $259,321.88
T-7: Branden Grace, -5, $259,321.88
T-15: Chan Kim, -4, $172,135
T-15: James Hahn, -4, $172,135
17: Tom Hoge, -3, $156,812
T-18: K.H. Lee, -2, $118,717.71
T-18: Shugo Imahira, -2, $118,717.71
T-18: Si Woo Kim, -2, $118,717.71
T-18: Henrik Norlander, -2, $118,717.71
T-18: Hiroshi Iwata, -2, $118,717.71
T-18: Matt Jones, -2, $118,717.71
T-18: Alex Noren, -2, $118,717.71
T-25: Adam Long, -1, $78,870.33
T-25: Maverick McNealy, -1, $78,870.33
T-25: Wyndham Clark, -1, $78,870.33
T-28: Keita Nakajima, E, Amateur
T-28: Xander Schauffele, E, $63,779.50
T-28: Troy Merritt, E, $63,779.50
T-28: Charley Hoffman, E, $63,779.50
T-28: Joaquin Niemann, E, $63,779.50
T-28: Naoto Nakanishi, E, $63,779.50
T-28: Adam Schenk, E, $63,779.50
T-35: Yuki Inamori, +1, $50,098.25
T-35: Kyle Stanley, +1, $50,098.25
T-35: Tomoharu Otsuki, +1, $50,098.25
T-35: Jinichiro Kozuma, +1, $50,098.25
T-39: Shaun Norris, +2, $40,397
T-39: Rikuya Hoshino, +2, $40,397
T-39: Ryutaro Nagano, +2, $40,397
T-39: Andrew Putnam, +2, $40,397
T-39: Harry Higgs, +2, $40,397
T-44: Pat Perez, +3, $31,442
T-44: Rickie Fowler, +3, $31,442
T-44: Ryan Palmer, +3, $31,442
T-44: Ryuichi Oiwa, +3, $31,442
T-48: Erik van Rooyan, +4, $24,377.50
T-48: Matthew NeSmith, +4, $24,377.50
T-48: Chris Kirk, +4, $24,377.50
T-48: Sung Kang, +4, $24,377.50
T-52: Bill Haas, +5, $21,790.50
T-52: Ryo Hisatsune, +5, $21,790.50
T-54: Jhonattan Vegas, +6, $20,762.33
T-54: Will Zalatoris, +6, $20,762.33
T-54: Brandon Hagy, +6, $20,762.33
T-57: Satoshi Kodaira, +7, $19,900
T-57: Kramer Hickok, +7, $19,900
T-57: Kazuki Higa, +7, $19,900
T-57: Tomoyasu Suglyama, +7, $19,900
T-57: C.T. Pan, +7, $19,900
T-62: Tyler McCumber, +8, $19,004.50
T-62: Robert Streb, +8, $19,004.50
T-62: Chesson Hadley, +8, $19,004.50
T-62: Brendon Todd, +8, $19,004.50
T-66: Ryosuke Kinoshita, +9, $18,109
T-66: Doug Ghim, +9, $18,109
T-66: Naoyuki Kataoka, +9, $18,109
T-66: Scott Vincent, +9, $18,109
T-66: Sepp Straka, +9, $18,109
T-71: Roger Sloan, +10, $17,412.50
T-71: Wesley Bryan, +10, $17,412.50
73: Emiliano Grillo, +11, $17,114
74: Peter Malnati, +12, $16,915
T-75: Garrick Higgo, +14, $16,616.50
T-75: Doc Redman, +14, $16,616.50
77: Ryuji Imada, +17, $16,318
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