Justin Thomas leads Hideki Matusyama by two shots through 54 holes at the SBS Tournament of Champions. Here’s what You Oughta Know heading into Sunday at Kapalua.
• Matsuyama has won four of his last five worldwide starts, taking the Japan Open, the WGC-HSBC Champions, the Taiheiyo Masters, and the Hero World Challenge. The only event he didn’t win? The CIMB Classic. The only player to beat him? Justin Thomas.
• Thomas is in search of his third PGA Tour victory after winning the CIMB each of the last two years. This is his first outright 54-hole lead, after closing one of two previous 54-hole co-leads (lost 2015 CareerBuilder). This would be his first win in the United States.
• The hottest player on the planet, Matsuyama, over his last six events is a combined 106 under par. No one has won more in the last calendar year than Matsuyama, who will be the defending champion next month in Phoenix.
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• With a win Sunday, Matsuyama would be the first Japanese player in history to win four PGA Tour titles. He would also be the first Japanese player to win back-to-back Tour starts (WGC-HSBC Champions).
• Tied for third at 14 under par, Jimmy Walker is back in contention after a post-PGA swoon. He played his first six rounds of the 2016-17 season a combined 26 over par and failed to break 70 last fall.
• Walker has enjoyed plenty of prior success in Hawaii, where he’s twice won the Sony Open and lost the 2015 TOC in a playoff to Reed.
• Some bad news for those in the chase pack who aren’t Matsuyama: every winner of this event since 2006 has been within two shots of the lead entering the final round.
Information courtesy the Golf Channel Editorial Research Unit