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Hideki MatsuyamaJapanese professional golfer
Date of Birth: 25.02.1992
Country:  Japan |
Content:
- Hideki Matsuyama: A Stellar Career in Japanese and Global Golf
- Professional Career
- Continued Success
- Olympic Withdraw and a Historic Masters Victory
- Personal Life
Hideki Matsuyama: A Stellar Career in Japanese and Global Golf
Early Life and Amateur CareerHideki Matsuyama was born on February 25, 1992, in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. Introduced to golf at the tender age of four by his father, Matsuyama honed his skills throughout his adolescence. He transferred to the prestigious Meitoku Gijyuku Junior and Senior High School in Kochi Prefecture in the eighth grade, seeking an environment conducive to his golf development.
Matsuyama continued his studies at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. In 2010, he made history as the first Japanese amateur to participate in the Masters Tournament after winning the Asian Amateur Championship with a score of 68-69-65-67 = 269. At the Masters, Matsuyama distinguished himself as the leading amateur, earning the Silver Cup awarded to the lowest-scoring amateur. He was the only amateur to make the cut.
Following his Masters success, Matsuyama secured third place at the Japan Open Golf Championship, an event on the Japan Golf Tour. In 2011, he won a gold medal at the 2011 World University Games, leading Japan's team to a gold in the team competition. He also successfully defended his Asian Amateur Championship title in October 2011. In November, Matsuyama triumphed at the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters, part of the Japan Golf Tour, while still an amateur.
Professional Career
In April 2013, Matsuyama turned professional and promptly won his second professional tournament, the Tsuruya Open 2013 on the Japan Golf Tour. Five weeks later, he claimed his third Japan Golf Tour title at the Diamond Cup. After a top-10 finish at the 2013 U.S. Open, Matsuyama entered the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He won his fourth Japan Golf Tour tournament in September at the Fujisankei Classic and his fifth in December at the Casio World Open. The latter victory made Matsuyama the first rookie to top the Japan Tour's money list.
In 2014, Matsuyama earned a PGA Tour card through non-member earnings. In just seven PGA Tour-sanctioned tournaments, he recorded six top-25 finishes, including a T-6 at the 2013 Open Championship.
Matsuyama secured his maiden PGA Tour victory at the 2014 Memorial Tournament, defeating Kevin Na in a playoff and moving up to 13th in the OWGR. The victory marked the first for a Japanese player since Ryuji Imada in 2008. In his first full season as a PGA Tour member, he finished 28th on the FedEx Cup standings.
Matsuyama ended the 2014 season with a sixth Japan Golf Tour victory. In November, he triumphed at the Dunlop Phoenix over Hiroshi Iwata in a playoff.
Continued Success
Matsuyama's 2015 season included a career-best fifth-place finish at the Masters Tournament. He placed 16th in the FedEx Cup standings. From October 8-11, he represented the International Team at the 2015 Presidents Cup, posting a 2–1–1 record.
February 7, 2016, saw Matsuyama win the Waste Management Phoenix Open in a playoff with Rickie Fowler, securing the victory on the fourth extra hole. This triumph elevated him to a career-high ranking of 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
On October 16, 2016, Matsuyama captured the Japan Open by three strokes over Yuta Ikeda and Lee Kyoung-hoon. This victory marked his first Japan Open title and his seventh in Japan. It also gave Matsuyama wins in four of the five Japan Golf Tour events worth ¥200 million.
Matsuyama's Japan Open triumph was followed by his victory at the WGC-HSBC Champions, colloquially known as "Asia's Major," in Shanghai on October 30, 2016. Matsuyama became the first Asian golfer to claim a World Golf Championships title since the series' inception in 1999. The victory propelled him to sixth in the Official World Golf Ranking, becoming the second-highest-ranked Japanese player after Masashi Ozaki, who had reached fifth. He later rose to a world ranking of fifth after the Farmers Insurance Open.
On November 13, 2016, Matsuyama won his second Taiheiyo Masters tournament, following his victory as a 19-year-old amateur in 2011. He defeated South Korean Son Yeon-han by seven strokes. In December 4, 2016, Matsuyama emerged victorious at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Olympic Withdraw and a Historic Masters Victory
Despite being the highest-ranked Japanese male golfer at the time, Matsuyama withdrew from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics due to concerns about the 2016 Zika virus epidemic, which had led several other top international players to pull out of the Olympic golf competition.
Upon his return to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Matsuyama once again entered a playoff on Sunday to defend his title, this time against Webb Simpson. On the fourth playoff hole, Matsuyama sank a birdie to claim the tournament for a second straight year. After earning a second-place finish at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, while the world's top three players at the time (Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and Jason Day) failed to make the cut, he ascended to a world ranking of second, the highest for a Japanese male golfer.
The 2017 season proved to be Matsuyama's breakout year. He won three Tour titles, including his first World Golf Championship, and recorded three runner-up finishes in his first 15 tournament appearances, earning $5,945,990 and briefly holding the No. 2 spot in the money list behind Dustin Johnson by July. He went on to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August, shooting a course-record 61 in the final round and winning by a margin of five strokes.
At the 2017 PGA Championship, Matsuyama carded rounds of 70–64 to share the 36-hole lead at Quail Hollow with Kevin Kisner.
In December 2019, Matsuyama played for the International Team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. Team USA emerged victorious with a score of 16–14. Matsuyama went 2–1–1 and halved his Sunday singles match against Tony Finau.
On April 11, 2021, Matsuyama made history by winning the Masters Tournament. He became the first Japanese player and the first player of Asian descent to win the tournament. He finished with a total score of 278 (-10), a one-stroke victory over runner-up Will Zalatoris. At the conclusion of the tournament, Matsuyama's caddie, Shota Hayafuji, bowed to the 18th green at Augusta National Golf Course in a display of Japanese respect.
Personal Life
Matsuyama is married to Mei (married in January 2017), and they have a daughter, Kanna (born in July 2017).
