Max McGreevy outclassed the local and international field as he cruised to a four-shot victory with a final round two-under-par 69 at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on Sunday.
Playing on a sponsor’s invite, the 29-year-old American – who led the tournament since the second round – has remarkedly dropped only one shot all week and signed off with a tournament record of 22-under-par 262.
Home favourite Hideki Matsuyama was tied for second with South Africa’s Shaun Norris and Akshay Bhatia of the United States after he carded a 66 for a 266 total.
Victory at the Phoenix Country Club was McGreevy’s third win this season following his two triumphs on the Korn Ferry Tour.
He also etched his name into the illustrious roll of honour where past champions of the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament include Seve Ballesteros (1981), Tiger Woods (2004, 2005), Masashi Ozaki (1994, 1995, 1996) and Matsuyama (2004).
“Winning in Japan is awesome with the great tradition of golf here. That’s what I came over to do with and I’m super thankful I managed to get it done this week. Getting the tournament record is a blessing as all I was trying to do was to stay ahead of Hideki and everybody else,” said McGreevy.
When asked about going bogey-free in his last 60 holes since his only bogey on the third hole in the opening round, McGreevy said: “You obviously want to try to play as many bogey-free rounds as you can.
“I knew this was going to be a difficult course but my state of mind was if I ever hit a bad shot, I had the composure to get myself back to where I needed to. I was in the right mental space and that helped me out the entire week.”
Matsuyama tipped his cap to McGreevy despite falling short in his bid to capture another title on home soil and complete a Dunlop Phoenix Tournament double since his win in 2004.
“It’s tough to compete against McGreevy who played all four rounds with just one bogey. He deserves this victory,” said Matsuyama.
Leading fourth round scores
All Japanese nationals unless indicated otherwise
262 – Max McGreevy (USA) 66-62-65-69
266 – Shaun Norris (RSA) 66-67-68-65, Akshay Bhatia (USA) 66-68-67-65, Hideki Matsuyama 67-65-68-66
267 – Scott Vincent (ZIM) 69-67-66-65
268 – Mikumu Horikawa 69-66-69-64, Taiga Semikawa 67-65-70-66, Shunya Takeyasu 70-66-66-66
