Hideki Matsuyama in ‘awe of’ PGA Tour rival’s game despite winning The Sentry 2025 with record score

Hideki Matsuyama said he was in awe of Collin Morikawa's game at the Sentry 2025, despite defeating him in a hard-fought contest. He mentioned that he was simply trying to keep up with Morikawa and succeeded in doing so.

On Sunday, January 5, Matsuyama carded an 8-under 65 to finish at 35-under and beat Collin Morikawa by a three-stroke margin. While Morikawa fell three strokes short, the Japanese golfer credited him for his strong performance this week.

During the winner's press conference, Hideki Matsuyama showered praise on Collin Morikawa.

"I don't know if you can say fun," he said. "I would just, you know, I was in awe of his game, just trying to follow him and trying to play along and be there, and I was able to focus and be able to do that."

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Hideki Matsuyama becomes latest player to complete Hawaiian double

Hideki Matsuyama celebrates with the trophy after winning during the final round of The Sentry 2025 (Image Source: Imagn)

With his win at the Sentry 2025, Hideki Matsuyama became only the seventh player to win both Hawaii swing events. For the uninitiated, he had previously won the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2022, defeating Russell Henley in a playoff.

Reacting to this feat, Matsuyama expressed his delight at winning both events.

"I wanted to definitely win both tournaments in Hawaii," he said. "So I'm very happy to be able to do that."

Before Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith, Zach Johnson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and Jim Furyk had all achieved the Hawaiian double.

The 11-time PGA Tour winner also spoke about his emotions regarding playing here again after Lahaina suffered losses from the fire seventeen months ago.

"After the fire we didn't know if we were going to get to play here," he said. "We were able to get to play, and play again this year. And then be able to win, this is a tournament that I've always wanted to win, it's a special place here, so definitely happy to have won here."

The purse size of the Sentry 2025 was $20 million and Matsyama returned home with a $3.6 million check.

The 32-year-old golfer has now won three events in the last ten months. Last year, he won the Genesis Invitational, marking his first win in two years. A few months later, he claimed the FedEx St. Jude Championship.