Hideki Matsuyama of Japan was the last man standing from what was a five-way tie for the lead on the back nine.
The 31-year-old Matsuyama made three of his nine birdies down the stretch to cap a brilliant, nine-under-par 62 and win the 96th Genesis Invitational by three strokes over Will Zalatoris and Luke List at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
“I wasn’t striking the ball really well but my chipping and putting was working a lot this week, especially the second shot on 15 was one of the best I had, and that really helped,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter. “I think it’s really important for me to keep this momentum, especially going to Augusta (for the Masters), so hopefully I can keep that.
“After my eighth win, I’ve been struggling with a back injury. There were a lot of times where I felt I was never going to win again. I’ve struggled reaching to top-10, but I’m really happy that I was able to win today.
I had a couple missed shots today, but maybe that all kind of worked out.”
Matsuyama, who was won 18 times as a professional including the 2021 Masters, birdied the first three the first three on the back nine and then hitting sensational shots to within inches on the 15th and 16th holes before sinking a four-foot putt at No. 17 for his last three birdies to post a winning score of 17-under-par 267.
Zalatoris, who was born in San Francisco but grew up in Dallas, mad two birdies on each nine in a 69, while List, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, made an eight-foot eagle putt on the first hole and added four birdies in a 68.
“It’s kind of nice when you get beat by somebody who shoots 62 on Sunday,” said Zalatoris, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship. “Shooting 62 on Sunday is usually going to win a golf tournament or make you a ton of money.
“Hats off to Hideki, that is just stellar playing.”
Seventh-ranked Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA, who led after each of the first three rounds, salvaged a 72 with a birdie on the last hole and was four shots back in a tie for fourth with fifth-seeded Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State, who holed a 29-foot bunker shot on No. 11 in his 70, and Adam Hadwin of Canada, who made five birdies on the front nine in a 65.
Harris English birdied the first two hole to kick-start a 69 and finished five shots behind in solo seventh, followed one more down by Tom Hoge, who had four birdies on the back nine in a 67, and Jason Day of Australia, who was eight back in ninth following a 72.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler shot 68 and came in nine strokes behind in a big tie for 10th with Tommy Fleetwood of England (67), Sam Burns (67), Eric Cole of Palm Springs (69), Adam Svensson of Canada (70) and J.T. Poston (71).
Eighth-ranked Max Homa of Valencia and Cal had three straight birdies on the front nine in a 69 and tied for 16th, while fourth-ranked Viktor Hovland of Norway tied for a 19th after making a late birdie for a 69, second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland birdied the first two holes in a 70 to tie for 24th, and 10th-ranked Brian Harman struggled to a 74 and finished in a tie for 44th.
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