Hideki Matsuyama Captures Historic Green Jacket

Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese golfer to win a major tournament on Sunday when he fended off the field to win the 2021 Masters.

The win was Matsuyama's sixth career victory on the PGA Tour and his first major championship. The 29-year-old is no stranger atop the leaderboard at majors, having finished tied for 2nd place at the 2017 U.S. Open and tied for 4th at the 2016 PGA Championship.

Matsuyama, who entered Sunday as the 54-hole leader, got off to a hot start in his final round and went as low as 13-under-par before back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes. A bogey on 18 dropped his final score to 10-under-par, one shot ahead of Will Zalatoris.

Xander Schauffele, who finished tied for third at 7-under-par, closed to within two-shots of Matsuyama's lead through 15 holes but found the water on the 16th hole and triple-bogeyed.

After Matsuyama, the 24-year-old Zalatoris was the story of the week and shot 9-under-par to finish second place in his Masters debut.

Jordan Spieth failed to follow last week's victory at the Valero Texas Open with a second career green jacket, but finished tied for third place with Schauffele at 7-under-par. Jon Rahm rounded out the top-5 with the low-score on Sunday as he posted a final round of 66 to finish the tournament 6-under-par.

Dustin Johnson, who won the 2020 Masters just five months ago and had the honor of putting the green jacket on Matsuyama, missed the cut this tournament after shooting 5-over-par on Thursday and Friday combined.