Hideki Matsuyama stormed to a remarkable sixth victory in his last 20 events as Rory McIlroy's bid for a second WGC-Bridgestone Invitational title petered out in Akron.

Rory McIlroy kicked off his Players Championship victory quest with only his second sub-70 TPC Sawgrass start and then downplayed any threat of burnout in competing for five straight weeks up to and including the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.