WGC-Bridgestone Invitational: Matsuyama Wins Second WGC title

The week began with the world's biggest names at a World Golf Championship event and other pros fighting for their livelihoods at a PGA Tour event, but the majority of interest was focused on a Web.com Tour event. Wait, what?

That's the power of Stephen Curry, who was given a sponsor's invite for the Ellie Mae Classic in the Bay Area. The Golden State Warriors superstar and scratch golfer acquitted himself nicely, shooting twin 4-over 74s to impress many pros even while beating some of them before missing the cut.

By the end of the weekend, though, all eyes had shifted to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where Hideki Matsuyama displayed just how far the gulf is between a very good golfer such as Curry and the world's elite. Matsuyama is a superstar in his own right, and he shot a course-record-tying 9-under 61 at Firestone Country Club on Sunday to run away from the field for his second career WGC title.

With Jordan Spieth arriving on the heels of winning another major, Rory McIlroy carrying splendid course history into Firestone and Dustin Johnson the defending champion, scant attention was paid to Matsuyama, who had never so much as had a top-10 at the Akron, Ohio, track.

But the Japanese star has been putting much better of late, and if you parlay that with his laser-like tee-to-green game, well, we saw what happened on Sunday. Matsuyama finished 15th in strokes gained putting on the week, which, in combination with the rest of the game, is good enough to win most tournaments.

Needless to say, if Matsuyama does that again this week, he'll be right in the mix for his first major at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. But it will be hard to double up a WGC with a major – really, it's hard to win twice in a row anywhere. Spieth did in fact carry a two-tournament win streak into Firestone, taking the Travelers and then the Open Championship. And so even though he was the hottest golfer going, there are just too many elite players to stay that hot for that long. That will be one of the challenges facing Matsuyama. Two others are McIlroy and Rickie Fowler, who have excelled at Quail Hollow, which in most years is a regular Tour stop for the Wells Fargo Championship.

Like at Firestone, Matsuyama has been only so-so at Quail Hollow, finishing 38th in 2014, 20th in 2015 and 11th last year. No top-10s like at Firestone, but surely getting significantly better each visit.

That's a roundabout way of saying the 25-year-old Matsuyama should be on your short list for the PGA. But there are too many great golfers, especially those with stellar course history, to expect a repeat.

And don't forget, not even the Curry-led Warriors have been able to win two titles in a row. At least not yet.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Zach Johnson

Johnson traditionally plays well this time of year in these tournaments -- John Deere, Open Championship, Bridgestone – and he finished solo second at Firestone, albeit five strokes back. Before that, Johnson had tumbled out of top-50 in the world for first time in a decade, but he's now back to No. 40. Johnson is very favorably priced on DraftKings for the PGA, and there are similarities between Firestone and Quail Hollow, though he does not have the same track record at the Charlotte course. Still, he is playing so well right now it would hardly be a surprise to see him in the mix this week.

Charley Hoffman

Hoffman was solo third at the Bridgestone, further laying claim to one of the great winless seasons in recent memory. He has two runners-up and a total of six top-10s. Of course, that "winless" part can end at any time, even this week. That's how good Hoffman is playing, and he's up to a career-best 20th in the OWGR.

Rory McIlroy

It's clear that McIlroy is close, with a T5 at Firestone following a T4 at the Open Championship. And now he heads to Quail Hollow, where he has won before and always contends. Replacing his longtime caddie didn't hurt McIlroy, but his putting continues to be an Achilles' heel. He was 34th in strokes gained putting at the Bridgestone. Quail Hollow may be coming along at just the right time for him.

Thomas Pieters

We saw some impressive play from the Belgian in the early part of the season – T2 at Riviera, T5 at the WGC-Mexico and, best of all, T4 at the Masters. He cooled off considerably after that but came alive again at Firestone. Pieters grabbed the 54-hole lead, but couldn't hold it and wound up solo fourth. He could very well be in the conversation again this week at the PGA.

Jason Day

Day surely didn't look like he was having a good time out there, walking gingerly with a recurrence of his back problems. But Day made it through four rounds and is playing better now than he has in a year. He tied for 24th at Firestone after tying for 27th at Royal Birkdale. He's finally getting some consistent reps. He's got a win and a runner-up in the past two PGAs, but he'll have to elevate his game a few levels to contend this week.

Sergio Garcia

Garcia has had a great season. He won the Masters. He got married. Just last week, in fact. Congrats, and all that, but it sure is a strange time for a golfer to get married. WGC followed by a major followed by the playoffs. Not exactly the quiet season. Anyway, Garcia tied for 39th at Firestone, which isn't bad considering the proximity to his wedding. With so much going on in his life, it's easy to see that there could be a regression on the golf course. We'd be surprised if Garcia was in the mix this week at Quail Hollow.

Barracuda Championship

While the WGC-Bridgestone was going on, so was the opposite-field event in Reno, Nev., where many golfers were playing for something much more basic: their careers. There are only two more events in the regular season, and keeping your Tour card is paramount. Chris Stroud, winless in 289 prior tournaments, won a three-man playoff with rookie Richy Werenski and 45-year-old Greg Owens. Stroud has been on Tour for a decade but has never made a dent. Now, he gets his card for two years, as well as a spot in the playoffs for at least two of the four events. That said, it's hard to envision him being a fantasy factor. For Owen, this was likely his last best chance for a PGA Tour win – he's now 0-for-265. Werenski is still on the outside of the top-125, sitting at 133 with only the Wyndham in two weeks left to make the playoffs. Some other big names are also in trouble, including Sam Saunders (127th in the standings), Ryan Palmer (128th), Aaron Baddeley (133rd) and Smylie Kaufman (135th). All of them will be in the Wyndham field. Sometimes when an athlete needs to step up, he does; other times, the pressure is too great. When it's time to construct a Wyndham lineup, we'll be staying away from guys on the bubble.

RotoWire Value Picks

Last week: Runner-up, three top-5s, five top-10s, two missed cuts
This week: Winner (Matsuyama), runner-up (Z. Johnson), four top-10s, 11 top-25s.

Another sweet week. We had Matsuyama in Tier 1 and Johnson in Tier 3. Rounding out Tier 1, Rickie Fowler was solo ninth, while Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka tied for 13th. In Tier 2, Paul Casey was spot-on with a tie for fifth. Adam Scott was T13 while Branden Grace and Tommy Fleetwood shared 28th. Besides Johnson, Tier 3 featured Daniel Berger at T17, Charl Schwartzel at T24 and the disappointing Rafa Cabrera Bello at solo 72nd. Among the long shots, Brendan Steele was the best of a weak bunch with his tie for 24th. Kyle Stanley tied for 41st, Russell Henley tied for 66th, and woeful Billy Horschel tied for 74th (in a field of 76).