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Hideki Matsuyama is already a Masters champion and 11-time PGA Tour winner so his success at the Hero World Challenge should not come as a surprise to us.

However, going into the 2026 season and looking back at his last few months in 2025, the Japanese star could well be one to watch next year.

Matsuyama produced some fine golf at Albany over in the Bahamas to eventually see off Alex Noren in a playoff.

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He had first pulled away from an out of sorts Scottie Scheffler, before sticking his approach to inside two feet to see off Noren and claim the win.

But aside from just winning in the Bahamas, Matsuyama has shown in the last six months that he could well be on his way back to his brilliant best.

And that, could be a big problem for Scheffler and co in 2026.

Hideki Matsuyama could be a big player in 2026

Having won The Masters in 2021, Hideki Matsuyama is no stranger to doing it on the big stage.

The Japanese star also won The Sentry last year to continue his form, meaning he’s won every year since that Masters win barring 2023.

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Going into 2026, Matsuyama will want to build on what was a more than impressive finish to the season.

In fact, we have to now go back nine tournaments to find an event where he finished outside of the top 30, and even then, it was a T42 at the US Open back in June.

Of course, converting those good finishes in top events into top fives and eventually wins is another matter but the way things are going for Hideki, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him produce.

He missed just three cuts in the entire season in ’25 and as we saw in Albany this weekend, when he’s on form, there are few better and more dialled in.

If Matsuyama can start strong again in 2026, then he could well be a major contender once again.

And with so much focus again on Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, he could easily sneak under the radar and add another big one to his haul.

• READ MORE: Scottie Scheffler pinpoints the one part of his game which wasn’t good enough at the Hero World Challenge

Hideki Matsuyama’s 2025 season in numbers

Hideki Matsuyama can blow hot and cold but from the summer onwards, he did seem to find something in his game in terms of consistency.

As mentioned, he missed just the three cuts and nine top 30s in a row – including his win this weekend – mean he’s very much in form.

That means it’s 12 top 25s for Matsuyama throughout 2025 on the PGA Tour.

Of course, the issue there is he only managed one win and one top ten, showing that more is needed to be able to really challenge.

However, the game is there for Matsuyama and come January, he’ll be more than raring to go again.