Hideki Matsuyama has washed out the rest of the field at the Hero World Challenge like a monsoon storm.
Matsuyama, a winner in three of his last four outings, including the HSBC Champions event, shot another 65 on Saturday and built a stunning seven shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round.
He’s 19-under par and dominating. Open champ Henrik Stenson and PGA Tour Player Of The Year Dustin Johnson are closest to him at 12-under. Stenson shot 66 on moving day while Johnson fell back to 12-under after taking a double-bogey at the 18th, tangling with some nasty vegetation when his tee shot went astray.
Brandt Snedeker (69) and Matt Kuchar (71) were tied at 11-under. Rickie Fowler, who played with host Tiger Woods, shot 68 and was the lone player in at 10-under.
Woods had the fastest start of the day, going four-under par for his first five holes but he would play his final 13 in two-over, including a double-bogey at the last set up by a poor drive and a second that found the water. Still, Woods managed to shoot under par, a 70 that got him to eight-under, 11 behind Matsuyama.
“If you told me at the beginning of the week that I’d be eight-under, I would have told you that I’d be pretty far behind,” Woods said. Still, he has shown signs of his old form, especially with his putter. The switch back to the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 has yielded three good putting days for the 14-time major champion.
