The Masters: Hideki Matsuyama wins first major at Augusta National

Final Masters leaderboard

-10 Matsuyama

-9 Zalatoris

-7 Spieth, Schauffele

-6 Rahm, Leishman

-5 Rose

Hideki Matsuyama overcame unwanted late drama to run out an ultimately impressive winner of the Masters, and become the first Japanese man to win a major.

Leading by four overnight, Matsuyama's lead was cut to just one in the blink of an eye, but from the moment he birdied the second and restored a comfortable cushion, it appeared as though this would be a rare Masters which lacked real drama.

That changed at the par-five 15th, where Matsuyama fired his second shot over the green and into water, making a six which, met with a birdie from Xander Schauffele, saw his four-shot lead cut to two. It was the first time since the front-nine that Matsuyama's advantage had been so slender.

Then came an equally dramatic and no less significant flashpoint as, with the honour at the 16th, Schauffele came up short with his tee-shot and also found water. It was a stunning error just as he'd clawed his way back into the reckoning and gave Matsuyama room to breathe once more.

Despite bogeying the hole, Matsuyama walked off the green with four in hand over Schauffele, the American making a triple-bogey which left Masters debutant Will Zalatoris alone in second. He, though, was finished, a final-round 70 sealing a brilliant Masters debut, but ensuring that Fuzzy Zoeller's 1979 victory would remain the latest by a first-time visitor unless Matsuyama faltered badly over the final two holes.

Buoyed by the events of the 16th, he did not. The drive he hit down the 17th was indeed reminiscent of the one struck by Tiger Woods the last time the Masters had been played in April, and it left him with the relatively simple task of guiding his ball to the clubhouse, Rae's Creek and Amen Corner well behind him now and two shots in hand.

A textbook approach beneath the flag at the 17th resulted in par, and a sensibly defensive bogey at the last completed a journey which began in earnest when he was the leading amateur here precisely a decade ago. Since then, Matsuyama has been Japan's leading hope in the men's game, and after four years without a victory now he is a major champion.

Matsuyama hopes win ‘opens floodgates’ for Japan

“I’m really happy. My nerves didn’t start on the second nine, it was right from the start and right to the very last putt," he said.

“I was thinking about my family all the way round today and I’m really happy that I played well for them.

“Hopefully I’ll be a pioneer in this and many other Japanese will follow and I’m glad to be able to open the floodgates hopefully and many more will follow me.”

Schauffele had recovered from a double bogey on the fifth with birdies on the seventh and eighth and made four more in a row from the 12th before his decisive mistake on the 16th.

“I was coming in hot, feeling good,” Schauffele said. “Hideki surprisingly went for the green on 15 so I felt like he gave me a little bit of hope there.

“I was maybe a little hyper-aggressive there on 16. If I had a lead I would have bailed out right and I think that’s the shot on the hole, I just haven’t hit it enough.

“I fought hard. It was a messy start and Hideki was robot-like for 13 holes and didn’t make a mistake. I felt like I gave him a little bit of a run and a little bit of excitement and unfortunately hit it in the drink there.

“If you look at my career you could call it a big ball of scar tissue with a bunch of second places. I don’t look at it that way.

“I hit a good shot, I committed to it but it turned out bad. I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I might be tossing and turning but I’ll be okay.”

Early nerves quickly overcome

Matsuyama began the day with a four-shot lead, just as Dustin Johnson had in November, and the nervy swing he produced on the first tee suggested a long day was ahead. Making bogey there, briefly his lead was down to just one as Zalatoris birdied the first two holes for a dream start.

But as the young American clumsily bogeyed the third, Matsuyama made a regulation birdie at the second, saved par at the third, and from then on began picking apart the course in a similar albeit less explosive fashion to the previous afternoon, when his 65 had changed the shape of the tournament.

Despite missed chances at the sixth and seventh, he got up and down for his second birdie of the day at the eighth, and a brilliant approach to the ninth hole set up another timely birdie to complete a front-nine 34 and strengthen his grip on the title.

Zalatoris, who was out in three-under to narrow the gap by one, missed a good chance of his own at the seventh and was made to pay when he three-putted the 10th and couldn't get up and down at the 12th, those two dropped shots coming at precisely the wrong time.

With all around him faltering, Jon Rahm's final-round 66 not enough to serve as a threatening clubhouse target at six-under and Jordan Spieth unable to enter top gear, Matsuyama's lead was half a dozen before a bogey at the 12th coincided with Schauffele's birdie, which got him back to level-par for the day having dropped four shots in three holes from the third.

Schauffele rally comes unstuck

Still with much to do, Schauffele added further birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th holes and suddenly found himself just two behind, the jovial mood of this same pairing on Saturday now abandoned for two stern faces and intense calculation on the 16th tee.

It appeared as though Schauffele and his caddie elected to change from a seven-iron to eight, and whether through that or an imperfect strike, his ball came up short and trundle left into water. From a difficult position, one mistake was followed by another, and there would be no time to recover from a crushing triple-bogey six.

Matsuyama now could focus on the nine-under target posted by Zalatoris, and made the 17th look easier than some might have. That allowed him space to play defensively up the final hole, his approach shot finding sand as he made bogey to reduce the margin of victory to a single shot.

That was as close as anyone had been to Japan's new golfing megastar since the opening exchanges. For the most part, Matsuyama was simply a little bit too good for those in pursuit. At last, he has fulfilled his promise, making history in what will be a popular success, and earning the right to head home for the Olympics this summer sporting a green jacket.