A near perfect closing round of six under 66 at the Sheshan International saw Matsuyama reach 23 under par and leave him an unassailable lead walking down the 72nd hole en route to becoming the first Japanese player to win in the 18-year history of the World Golf Championships.

He played the last 45 holes of the tournament bogey-free, to finish seven shots ahead of the fast-finishing Henrik Stenson, of Sweden, and American Daniel Berger. A further shot back was World No.3 Rory McIlroy, who shared fourth place with Bill Haas

It was the largest margin of victory ever at the HSBC Champions, and the biggest in a WGC since Tiger Woods won the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by seven strokes. His 265 winning total was just one shot shy of the tournament record set by Dustin Johnson three years ago.

HIdeki Matsuyama fires his second shot toward the final green knowing he couldn't possibly lose. PHOTO: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

The 24-year-old’s incredible run of form started with his fifth placing at the Tour Championships. He then won the Japan Open a fortnight ago and was second at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last week.

His opening round 66 contained 10 birdies and four bogies. He only registered two more dropped shots over the remaining 54 holes, and he didn’t have a single bogey over the weekend. It was a golfing clinic from Matsuyama, who appears to have overcome some of the putting woes that inflicted his game late in the major’s season.

Matsuyama’s putting during the past three weeks though has been outstanding. In Shanghai, he topped the field in putts made per green hit in regulation. Combine that statistic, with hitting 75 percent of the greens in regulation all week and its no wonder he reached 23 under.

"I really don't know why I played well this week,” he said. “The last three years, I've had to withdraw twice and I didn't play very well the other year.

"But I got off to a good start. I really didn't make any changes to my golf swing or anything. But I have putted really well these last three weeks, and that's probably the difference.

“I did play well today. I hit the ball a lot better. But putting was the difference this week."

FINAL LEADERBOARD

He now looks certain to jump at least three spots to World No.7, which will be the highest mark ever achieved by a Japanese player, surpassing the World No.9 marked reached in the late 90s by Jumbo Ozaki – one of Matsuyama’s heroes.

“I have great respect for Jumbo-san. Jumbo-san is what I call him,” Matsuyama smiled. “Historically, his records will probably never be, probably anyone will come close to. I played with him once on the Japan Tour. At the time, I probably didn't realise how great he has been to the game of golf in Japan.

“But since turning pro and going over the records and seeing all that he's done, I have nothing but great, great respect for him.”

Matsuyama began the final round with a three-stroke lead and took up where he left off in the third round. He stuffed his approach into four feet at the opening hole and converted the birdie. When he appeared to be in trouble, his putter saved the day.

He registered three birdies on the front nine and collected three in a row on the inward nine, starting at the par-4 13th hole, which put the result beyond doubt. 

Matsuyama is the first Japanese player to get his hands on a WGC trophy. PHOTO: Scott Hallaren/Getty Images.

"Winning today, I feel has got me closer to being able to compete a lot better in the Major tournaments," Matsuyama said after his win.

"My next goal is, of course, to win a Major and I'm going to do all that I can to prepare well for that.

"I was really nervous at the start of the day but I was able to birdie hole number one. I kind of got myself into the rhythm of the day and after that, it was smooth sailing.”

Adam Scott will rue a disappointing second round 80, having pieced together weekend rounds of 64-66 to finish at nine under and T14. Fellow Queenslander Scott Hend followed up his three consecutive even par 72s with a five over 77 to drop to T54 in the limited field event.