Jonathan Weiner
To hear PGA Tour veteran tell it, Hideki Matsuyama is beloved like a rock star at home in Japan.
“I played behind Hideki [on Friday], and it’s like seeing Elvis,” Perez said.
Matsuyama gave his adoring fans an unforgettable performance, making three birdies and an eagle on the back nine to overtake Cameron Tringale and win the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship by five strokes in his homeland, about 30 minutes northeast of Tokyo.
Matsuyama, who has won eight times on the Japan Golf Tour, shot 5-under 65 at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan, to notch his seventh PGA Tour title and win at home for the first time since the 2016 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters.
Limited crowds of 5,000 fans were permitted at the course each day and Matsuyama had an entire country living and dying with his every swing.
“I told him I don’t know how you deal with the cameras all of the time. He said, ‘I pull my hair out sometimes,’ ” said Perez, who joined the Golf Channel’s broadcast after his third round. “He’s had it for so many years now. It’s second nature to him. I can’t believe being the guy he is in the country right now. Everybody wants him to win. And…
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