4 crazy numbers from Matsuyama's WGC performance

Hideki Matsuyama was brilliant on Sunday at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, firing a final-round 61 to win his third PGA Tour title of the season.

Here are four crazy numbers from the 25-year-old's performance this week in Akron:

1

Matsuyama became the first player ever to win two WGC events in a season by more than five strokes. The Japanese star beat Zach Johnson by five shots in Akron, and Daniel Berger and Henrik Stenson by seven in China last fall. The victory at Firestone Country Club was Matsuyama's second World Golf Championship this season, also claiming the WGC-HSBC Champions in October.

4

Matsuyama's Sunday score joined Tiger Woods, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Sergio Garcia as the only four players to post a round of 61 at Firestone Country Club. Olazabal posted the number in the 1990 World Series of Golf, while Garcia accomplished the feat in 2014. Woods remains the only player to shoot it twice, doing so in 2000 and 2013.

"I played with Tiger when he shot 61 four years ago," Matsuyama told CBS Sports through a translator. "I knew 61 was the number today. I was thinking about that at No. 16. I knew if I birdied Nos. 16, 17, and 18 I could get there."

37

Matsuyama was the man who sat atop the leaderboard Sunday evening at 16-under par for the week, but 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett was the player at the bottom of the table. Since there is no cut at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Willett played all four days in Akron, posting rounds of 76-74-74-77. The Englishman totaled +21 for the tournament, only 37 shots behind Matsuyama.

44

Matsuyama's 9-under-par 61 on Sunday was the lowest final-round score in World Golf Championship history. Since the formation of the WGC events in 1999, there have been 44 stroke-play tournaments, and none have ended with a 61 until Sunday.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)