Matsuyama heads to the final major with confidence

While he was only two shots out of the lead going into the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational, he lost his swing on his way to the practice range.

Matsuyama closed with three straight birdies for a 9-under 61 to win by five shots.

Matsuyama heads to Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina for the PGA Championship, the final major of the year and his last chance to cap off a year in which the Japanese star moved into the elite in golf.

When he was 21 and still finishing up his college degree in Japan, Matsuyama had a five-week stretch in which he won twice and was runner-up twice on the Japan Golf Tour in 2013, the year he became the first rookie to win the Order of Merit.

Starting with a pressure-filled victory before the home crowd in the Japan Open, Matsuyama had a six-tournament stretch in which he won four times and was runner-up in the other two events.

Among those victories was the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, which he won by seven shots for his first World Golf Championship.

Along with capturing another World Golf Championship title, Matsuyama won for the third time this season, joining Spieth and Dustin Johnson for the most on the PGA Tour.

Matsuyama stays at No. 3 in the world, a fraction behind Spieth, but only because Spieth had created a large gap from his British Open victory.