Matsuyama Wins 2021 Masters

Hideki Matsuyama has won the 2021 Masters and made PGA Tour history in the process.

Matsuyama is not only the first Japanese player to ever win the Masters, but he is also the first to ever win a Major championship.

The 29-year-old Matsuyama posted a 1-over 73 on Sunday to win the tournament by one stroke over Will Zalatoris. Matsuyama posted a score of -10 for the four rounds, and the final outcome was never really in doubt at any point on Sunday.

This Masters title comes just ten years after Matsuyama won the title of best amateur at the Masters. He joins an elite group of golfers that have accomplished this feat, but his biggest achievement is the honor and pride he brought to his home country of Japan.

At one point on Sunday, the lead Matsuyama had built grew to six strokes and was never closer than two until the final putt at the 18th green. This was a leaderboard that was filled with big names in the final two rounds, but Matsuyama was simply the best player of the group.

Matsuyama did make a little history by winning the Masters with a final-round score over par, but he had done his work earlier in the week. Trevor Immelman shot three-over-par on Sunday in 2008 and was the latest golfer to do so and still win the tournament.

This was just the 6th PGA Tour win for Matsuyama, but he has picked up 15 wins worldwide. Golf is a growing sport in Japan, and this win will likely inspire more young kids to pick up the sport in that country.

Congratulations and celebratory messages poured in on social media for Matsuyama, including one from Tiger Woods. Matsuyama had odds of +5000 to win the Masters before the weekend began, but he was the clear favorite before beginning his round on Sunday.

It was a big week for Japan at August National as Tsubasa Kajitani of Japan won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur last Saturday.

Not many sportsbooks had tipped Matsuyama for the win, so anyone backing him with DraftKings or FanDuel would have had good odds for him to win the Masters.

Mistakes Cost Thomas, Schauffele

The leaderboard late in the day on Saturday featured plenty of big names, but none bigger than Schauffele or Justin Thomas. Both golfers appeared ready to win their first Green Jacket this weekend, but costly mistakes ultimately caught up to both of them.

For Justin Thomas, the mistakes came after the hour-plus rain delay on Saturday, and it left him too far back heading into Sunday. Thomas recorded a triple-bogey 8 on hole 13 after the delay, and that set the stage for a massive collapse on the final few holes.

Schauffele made a real run at Matsuyama on Sunday and had all of the momentum in his favor with just three holes to go. Heading into the 16th hole, all Schauffele had to do was stick one close to the par-3 but instead hit his tee shot in the water.

Schauffele finished the tournament in a third-place tie with a score of -7. Thomas finished in 21st place with a final score of even-par for the weekend.

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