FEBRUARY 22 — Winning The Genesis Invitational was one of my goals ever since I became a professional golfer. After Tiger Woods became the tournament host, that goal became a lot bigger. You know, reaching nine wins on the PGA TOUR was also a big ambition. After my eighth title, I struggled with a neck injury and there were times when I felt I was never going to win again. I even struggled to finish in the top-10, so I’m really happy I was able to pull off a win.

Before my wins, Shigeki Maruyama had won three times on the PGA TOUR and after I won the fourth one, he told me, hey, you’ve got to pass K.J Choi. I am very happy to achieve this and I’ll definitely text Shigeki that I achieved this goal.

After my injury in 2022, I was always worried something bad might happen. At Riviera, I had no issues and I played without any worries which really helped. It’s something that’s been bothering me for a long time. However, since the start of this year, it’s been getting a lot better. It’s stress free when I’m sleeping too, so I think I had this feeling I can do something special maybe this year.

I wasn’t striking the ball particularly well during the final round but my putting and chipping worked a lot. The second shot into the 15th hole which ended eight inches from the cup was probably one of the best shots I had. It was 184 yards into the wind, and I executed it perfectly. I had great momentum right there. On 16, I hit it maybe like five yards to the right of my target, and it became a good shot where it stopped six inches from the hole. It was all good.

I think a lot of times for me, the morning practice session doesn’t really relate to the actual round but I was striking it pretty good before the final round began. Then on the first tee, I hit probably the worst shot of the week but I still managed to make birdie on the opening par-5 hole!

Riviera is a very special place for me. I know the owner, who’s also Japanese and it’s nice to win here. I was a little disappointed I wasn’t able to take a picture with Tiger as he withdrew from the tournament due to illness.

I think this latest win is important and I hope to keep the momentum going. This is my first top-10 since last year’s PLAYERS Championship so I have good memories of TPC Sawgrass and I look forward to getting back there next month. Hopefully I also keep my form going into Augusta National in April as well.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

Note: Fans can watch Hideki Matsuyama and the world’s best golfers on the PGA TOUR compete on Astro Golf Channel.