The Punter's De-Brief: Hideki hauls in Henley at Waialae

Having sat tied for second, one stroke behind the defending champion, Kevin Na, after round one, pre-event 40.039/1 chance and 2013 Sony winner, Russell Henley, led this year's edition of the Sony Open by three strokes at halfway.

The 32-year-old was still two clear of the field after a three-under-par 67 on Saturday and he appeared to be in absolute control after a six-under-par 29 on the front nine on Sunday.

Henley's closest challenger with a round to go, Hideki Matsuyama, closed the gap at the top to just a stroke when he birdied the par three fourth but Henley responded in fine style, birdying six, seven and eight to move three clear before an eagle at the ninth saw him go five in front.

With just nine holes to play, Henley was matched at a low of just 1.061/18 but Matsuyama soon set about reducing the deficit with a birdie at the 10th and after another two-stroke swing at the 11th, when Henley bogeyed and Matsuyama birdied, it was game on again.

Having drifted all the way out to 48.047/1 at the turn, Matsuyama was matched at around 2.47/5 when he had 11 feet for birdie at the 14th the to cut deficit to a stroke but he missed the putt and it looked like his chance may have passed until he did this on the 15th green.

One shot back.

Hideki makes a long birdie at the 15th. pic.twitter.com/7v2fukhdW3

? PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 17, 2022

Matsuyama then shortened up to 2.226/5 after a great approach to 16 set up a birdie chance from just seven feet but he again missed and after matching pars at the par three 17th, Henley still led by a stroke as the went to the 72nd tee.

Matsuyama hit a monstrous drive that meant he was always going to find the green with his second shot but Henley's tee-shot ran into the bunker to the right of the fairway, forcing him to lay up.

Matsuyama's second shot was at least a club shot but he still made the two-putt birdie from distance to tie so Henley needed to hole this 10-footer to take the title.

Henley's birdie putt to win on 18 just skims the outside edge. pic.twitter.com/sGqKgjZ4i7

? PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 17, 2022

It was an agonising finish by Henley and for the first time since Friday we had a new favourite with the market quite rightly favouring Matsuyama who was trading at around 1.845/6. Henley was a 2.1411/10 chance before their tee-shots in extra time.

Henley had the honour off the tee and when he found the bunker again Matsuyama put his driver back in his bag and just made sure he found the fairway. Henley was again forced to lay up before Matsuyama put the result to bed with this stunning three-wood.

UNREAL SHOT.

Hideki delivers a beauty from 277 yards out on the first playoff hole! pic.twitter.com/qT8ByiAVrm

? PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 17, 2022

Clearly and understandably flustered, poor Henley hit his third shot long of the green and failed to get-up-down before Matsuyama stroked in his eagle putt to claim the title.

Was this another Henley choke?

As highlighted in the In-Play BlogIn-Play Blog, Henley had given up a couple of chances of late and this was the fifth time he'd failed to convert a 54-hole lead since he won the Sony Open from the front eight years ago.

Having turned in 29, it's perhaps not surprising that Henley slowed up on the back nine and a one-over-par 36 can hardly be deemed a collapse.

His nervy bogey at the par three 11th was his only dropped shot of the day and although he wasn't as smooth as he'd been on the front nine, he scrambled well and holed out bravely all the way to the house. This wasn't a title lost by Henley, it was one that was won by Matsuyama.

Hot putting and a start at the Sentry again the keys to victory

Matsuyama has a similar profile to Collin Morikawa. Both are excellent from tee-to-green week after week and when either of them putts well they tend to win.

Matsuyama ranked number one for Strokes Gained Putting last week and he was fifth Sony Open winner in six years to rank inside the top three for that stat.

Matsuyama was also the eighth winner in nine years to have played in the Sentry Tournament of Champions the week before. The only Sony winner in the last nine years not to have teed it up at Kapalua the week before was Cameron Smith two years ago.

The PGA Tour leaves Hawaii now and heads for California for the American Express and the DP World Tour is back with the 17th edition of the Abu Dhabi Championship. Both events begin on Thursday and I'll be back with my previews later today or tomorrow.

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter