{"id":6933,"date":"2025-12-08T08:20:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T01:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=6933"},"modified":"2025-12-08T08:20:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T01:20:44","slug":"matsuyama-clinches-world-challenge-in-playoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/matsuyama-clinches-world-challenge-in-playoff\/","title":{"rendered":"Matsuyama clinches World Challenge in playoff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hideki Matsuyama hit a birdie in the first playoff hole to defeat Alex Noren and claim the World Challenge gold championships at the Albany Golf Club in Bahamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matsuyama, holed out from 116 yards in the 10th fairway for eagle that allowed him to catch Sepp Straka and move past two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler and seize control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noren, meanwhile, caught Matsuyama with an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force the playoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both golfers were tied on 266 after hitting identical 8-under-64 in the final round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
HIdeki Matsuyama (Photo by Srixon\/Cleveland Golf) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With Matsuyama birdieing the hole, Noren’s 20-foot birdie attempt slid by on the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Matsuyama\u2019s second win at the event hosted by Tiger Woods having also clinched the title in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Straka, the 54-hole leader by one shot over Scheffler, birdied the final hole for a 68 to finish alone in third. Scheffler had a slow start and a two-hole stretch early on the back nine that ruined his bid for a third straight victory. He shot 68 and tied for fourth with U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun 65).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scheffler ended his season by not finishing worse than a tie for eighth in his last 16 events dating to the Houston Open the last week in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europe win World Champions Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Team Europe scored 102.5 points to run away with the Skechers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They won by 16.5 points over the runner-up Team International after entering the final day with a narrow 1.5-point lead,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team USA\u2019s Jason Caron was the leading point scorer for the event with 60.5 points, scoring double-digit points in each of the last four sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unique event is being played for a second time featured three teams \u2013 the U.S., Europe and an International squad \u2013 facing off in a six-somes, six-balls and singles in a blend of Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup events. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hideki Matsuyama hit a birdie in the first playoff hole to defeat Alex Noren and claim the World<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-6933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-golf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t