Before the final round of the World Hero Challenge, Tiger Woods offered a specific challenge to Hideki Matsuyama: Shoot 10 under and you’ll win this thing.
Matsuyama didn’t quite make it, but he came close: Nine under par through 19 holes, a final-round 64 plus a birdie on the first playoff hole, enough to edge out Alex Noren and beat a star-studded Hero field.
“Tiger is my idol,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “A few years ago in LA, we couldn’t take pictures, but nine years ago was the first time I was able to take pictures with Tiger and I wanted to
take a photo with Tiger (again). That’s why I played well in the Tiger event.”
Matsuyama was referring to his win at the 2024 Genesis Invitational, the next event Woods is hosting, but Woods withdrew that week and was not part of the winner’s ceremony. Matsuyama also won Hero in 2016; Woods finished 15th that week and stayed to present the trophy.
The win was Matsuyama’s first in 2025, and while it’s unofficial by PGA Tour standards, it’s the ideal way to enter the offseason after what, by the Japanese star’s lofty standards, was a middling season.
“It was a very difficult season for me,” Matsuyama said. “(I) talked to my swing coach in Japan every night and I was just able to play well.”
The fireworks came early and often for Matsuyama in the final round; he made five birdies on the front nine and then chipped in from 116 yards for a 2-under eagle on No. 10. Seven pars and a birdie the rest of the way were enough to put him in a playoff with Noren, who birdied 15, 16 and 18 to settle at 22 under par.
But when the two returned to 18 for the first hole of the sudden-death playoff, Matsuyama took control of the tournament with a flagging 9-iron from 166 yards to three feet. When Noren’s birdie putt slipped off the fringe, Matsuyama finished for birdie and won.
Some other winners: from Hero:
-Noren’s consolation prize: His fourth top-three finish in his last nine starts plus a berth in the Masters.
“Especially against players like this, I’m really proud of myself,” Noren said. “I know it might be low scoring right now, but you’ve got to hit the shots out there. Me and my team have been working hard this week to keep it all in shape.”
-This was Sepp Straka’s first stroke start since August’s Tour Championship, where he finished in last place shortly after the birth of his son Thomas. Straka looked much sharper in this contest, shooting 21 under to miss a playoff by just a single shot.
“It was a really good year. It was a great year,” Straka said. “I felt like I had a lot of chances to win tournaments. I won two tournaments for the first time in one season. Yeah, very happy with where my game is going.”
-Scottie Scheffler finished T4, his 16th consecutive worldwide start where he has finished T8 or better. He left frustrated not for the three-peat at Hero, but happy with the state of his game.
“I would say this feels more like the beginning of the year than the end of the year,” Scheffler said. “You know, I took a pretty good break after the Ryder Cup. It had been another long season, and with the season for me starting a few weeks later this year without Maui, I pushed it a little bit further until this event as well, so I got a good break. It’s nice to come down here, kind of gauge where I’m at. Like I said, I was feeling very optimistic about some good things. I saw some progress here the last few weeks, and the things I focused on in the offseason, I definitely saw a breakthrough here too.”
-JJ Spaun capped off a career-changing season with a T4 – but I got a smile from his first-hand experience with Tiger Woods on Saturday before the round.
“Yeah, he watched my whole warm-up yesterday, like right in my bag,” Spaun said. “We were talking back and forth. I was just as nervous because I’m not used to hitting in front of him. He definitely got my first tee nerves out of the way for me out there on the range.
“But it was good, like I loved coming to this tournament growing up in LA and just enjoying being involved in everything Tiger does. If you’re hanging around him, you’re in good company, you’re doing something right. It’s been such a fun week and an honor to be here.”
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