Hideki Matsuyama isn’t lighting up Waialae Country Club at the Sony Open like he did Kapalua last week en route to winning The Sentry with a record 35-under-par total. But he did hit one of the most amazing shots you’ll see on the PGA Tour.
This one, however, was clearly unintentional.
The 32-year-old from Japan was even par on the ninth hole when he drove his ball left on the par-5, 517-yard hole. He had 182 yards to the pin and several of the signature Waialae palms quite a distance in front of him.
It was clear he was trying to avoid the trees, but instead, the ball came off hot and skirted perfectly through the smallest of gaps between two trees. Matsuyama’s reaction was classic, as he was almost embarrassed that it happened.
Watch it here:
Hideki was shook 😳 pic.twitter.com/nnJgCu9Zn4
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 10, 2025
The ball ended just short and right of the green and he got up and down for birdie, making a putt from just inside eight feet. That moved him to one under and as of this writing he parred each of the next few holes and was well behind a group of leaders all at six under par.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com