Matsuyama’s electric final-round 62 to surge past the field and win at the Riviera in Los Angeles planted him back in the world top-20.

The 2021 Masters winner from Japan, once as high as No.2 in the official world golf ranking (OWGR), entered last week at No.55.

He hadn’t won a tournament since January 2022 and has struggled with a neck and back injury since Bay Hill in March that year.

With his final score of 17-under-par 267 at Riviera Country Club, Matsuyama rocketed 35 places up the board to sit in the top-20 for the first time in nearly a year.

His ninth PGA Tour win broke the record for Asian-born players he had previously shared with South Korea’s K.J. Choi.

The modest Matsuyama was surprised by his victory.

He started the final round six shots off the pace but ended the day breaking, by one shot, the Riviera record for best closing round by a winner, set by Doug Tewell in 1986.

“I was not feeling comfortable with my ball-striking. I was thinking, ‘Hey, I’m going to have a couple missed shots (on Sunday),'” Matsuyama told reporters via interpreter.

“But maybe that worked out.”

The top-five in the OWGR remained the same on Monday, with Scottie Scheffler at No.1, followed by Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele.

Former World No.1 Jason Day remains the highest-ranked Australian golfer, at 19th, with Min Woo Lee (42), Cam Smith (44) and Adam Scott (48) also in the top-50.