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By Julio Cesar Valdera Morales
Contributing Sports Writer
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Hideki Matsuyama is at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California to defend his title at the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational. Matsuyama won in spectacular fashion a year ago at Riviera Country Club with a final-round 62.
Matsuyama addressed the media on a variety of topics, including not getting his photo with Woods when he received his Genesis Invitational championship trophy.
Woods was unable to attend as he was suffering from an illness that forced him to withdraw from the tournament during his second round.
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Matsuyama confirmed that Tiger took advantage of their next meeting to congratulate him on his victory.
So I met with Tiger at the Masters and he gave me a big smile and congratulated me, so that kind of made it extra special, that winning at Riviera.
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The former Masters winner also commented on the tournament's change of venue, saying he was "disappointed" not to be able to defend his title at the Riviera.
Obviously before the fire I was really looking forward to coming back to Riviera, but with the situation, a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to come back to Riviera. Feel like I had a really good preparation of the two days so, really looking forward to this week.
The Genesis Invitational was moved to San Diego due to the wildfires that have affected several areas in Los Angeles, including Pacific Palisades, where Riviera Country Club is located. Thankfully, there is no reported damage to its facilities. Nevertheless, the sheer devastation of the area led to this year's change of scenery.
The move to Torrey Pines marks the first time in the event's nearly 100-year history (founded in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open) that it has been played outside of Los Angeles.
A year ago, Hideki Matsuyama entered the final round of the Genesis Invitational tied for seventh place, four shots behind 54-hole leader Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay did not play his best golf in the final round, carding a 1-over 72 to drop to fourth.
The opposite was true for Matsuyama, who shot a bogey-free round of nine birdies on day four to climb six places up the leaderboard. The Japanese pro virtually won the tournament on the back nine, with six of his birdies coming down the stretch.
That was Matsuyama's ninth career victory on the PGA Tour. He currently has 11 career wins on the American-based circuit after adding the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship and The Sentry 2025 to his trophy case.
His victory at the 2021 Masters Tournament, though, remains the biggest highlight of his playing career.
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