SHANGHAI—Dominant Hideki Matsuyama made history Sunday when he became the first player from Asia to win a World Golf Championships.
The 24-year-old from Japan left a world-class field, including Rory McIlroy and all four 2016 major winners, trailing in his wake as he finished seven strokes clear at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
The 24-year-old Japanese player also became the first from the continent to win “Asia’s Major” and he did it in style with a flawless final round of six-under par 66.
Matsuyama was just one shot shy of the record 72-hole score at Sheshan International Golf Club of 24-under par set by current US Open champion Dustin Johnson three years ago.
Matsuyama finished at 23-under par after four stunning rounds of 66, 65, 68 and 66 at the par-72 layout. British Open champions Henrik Stenson and Daniel Berger of the US were tied for second way back at 16-under par.
World number three Rory McIlroy on Sunday carded his second 66 of the week for yet another top-five finish as he took fourth place on 15-under par.
Matsuyama, whose total of 29 birdies for the week was just three short of the all-time US PGA Tour record of 32, remarkably did not card a bogey after the ninth hole of his second round on Friday, despite testing damp and windy conditions in the Chinese megacity.
The in-form 24-year-old is set to rise to as high as number six in the world following his victory for which he wins $1.62 million.
It caps a remarkable run in which Matsuyama has won the Japan Open, finished runner-up in the PGA Tour’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia and won the WGC-HSBC Champions in consecutive weeks.
Before that he had finished fifth in the US PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championships, won by McIlroy.
Meanwhile, China’s Feng Shanshan won her second Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia title in three years as a final-round charge from world number one Lydia Ko of New Zealand fizzled on Sunday.
Feng, who won in 2014, had stormed into the lead with a seven-under par 64 in a rain-interrupted third round that forced her and several others to wait until early Sunday to finish up.
She then started the final round with a bogey on the first hole but regained her footing to finish at 17-under for a three-stroke win over Norway’s Suzann Pettersen at TPC Kuala Lumpur.
With the win, the ebullient Feng ended a two-year title drought.
“It’s really good, especially in the last four years where I finished second, first, second, first here,” she said.
“Even though I only improved one spot, I think I’ve had a fantastic week coming back here. Makes me feel like I’m at home.”
“I really love this golf course. And actually can we have like ten LPGA events here on this course?”
Feng had finished in the top five in her four previous tournaments leading up to the event.