Hideki Matsuyama made it onto the podium in his second Olympic appearance.
Three years ago, he narrowly lost in a playoff for the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Matsuyama redeemed himself by winning a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Silver medalist Tommy Fleetwood and gold medalist Scottie Scheffler finished ahead of Matsuyama.
He shot a brilliant six-under 65 to reach 17 under par and avoid an overtime match with Frenchman Victor Perez, who finished in sole fourth place with an eight-under 63 to put him at 16 under par.
Matsuyama did not come to Paris. Seeking revenge(From Golf Digest Japan) However, as a personal goal, he said, “I want to work hard to achieve better results than I did three years ago.”
Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images
The former Masters champion played well from the start of the tournament through Sunday, finishing with scores of 63-68-71-65 after 72 holes. Although he didn’t have his best day on Saturday, Matsuyama fought hard on Sunday to earn a spot on the podium.
Matsuyama avoided mistakes and recorded six birdies to keep his scorecard clean. After the win, Matsuyama celebrated by high-fiving Team Japan coach Shigeki Maruyama. Get on the podiumFrom Golf Digest Japan.
“Maruyama has been my coach since Rio (2016) and we couldn’t win last time (Tokyo 2021), so I’m happy we were able to win the bronze medal this time,” Matsuyama said after Sunday’s match.
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Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Matsuyama started the day at 11 under and was in fourth place. He played the course with aplomb, scoring four birdies in the first nine holes, on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth holes. The final two birdies on his card came on the par-four 10th and par-four 12th holes.
His six straight pars late in the round were crucial as many players made up the field on Sunday. Perez was in good form at 16 under but couldn’t force extra holes. Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm were also tied at 15 under.
The 32-year-old became the first man and second Japanese player to win an Olympic golf medal, joining Mone Inami, who won silver in the women’s event in Tokyo.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
