Hideki Matsuyama (1 Masters)

1992

Hideki Matsuyama (松山 英樹Matsuyama Hideki, born 25 February 1992) is a Japanese professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is the first-ever Japanese professional golfer to win a men's major golf championship – the 2021 Masters Tournament.

As of April 2021, Matsuyama has 15 worldwide wins, eight career top-10 finishes in major championships, and four Presidents Cup appearances. He attained his highest rank of second in the Official World Golf Rankings for men in June 2017. His six wins on the PGA Tour make him the most successful Japanese member of the PGA tour in history.[3][5]Matsuyama also won the Asian Amateur Championship in 2010 and 2011, and is a two-time World Golf Championship winner and eight-time Japan Golf Tour winner.

Matsuyama was born in Matsuyama, EhimeJapan. He was introduced to golf at the age of four, by his father. During eighth grade, he transferred to Meitoku Gijuku Junior & Senior High School in Kochi Prefecture, in search of a better golf environment. His nickname at the time was RPShowtime, because of his slick skills on the poker table.

He studied at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. He won the 2010 Asian Amateur Championship with a score of 68-69-65-67=269. This gave him the chance to compete as an amateur in the 2011 Masters Tournament, becoming the first Japanese amateur to do so. At the Masters, Matsuyama was the leading amateur and won the Silver Cup, which is presented to the lowest scoring amateur. He was the only amateur to make the cut. A week after his victory, he finished in a tie for third at the Japan Open Golf Championshipwhich is an event on the Japan Golf Tour.

In 2011, Matsuyama won the gold medal at the 2011 World University Games. He also led the Japan team to the gold medal in the team event. In October 2011, he successfully defended his title at the Asian Amateur Championship. In November, Matsuyama won the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Golf Tour while still an amateur.

In August 2012, Matsuyama reached number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Matsuyama turned professional in April 2013 and won his second professional tournament, the 2013 Tsuruya Open on the Japan Golf Tour. Five weeks later, Matsuyama won his third title on the Japan Golf Tour at the Diamond Cup Golf tournament. Following 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 event in September at the Fujisankei Classic. Matsuyama would win his fifth Japan Golf Tour event in December at the Casio World Open. The win also made Matsuyama the first rookie to lead the Japan Tour's money list.

For 2014, Matsuyama qualified for the PGA Tour through non-member earnings. In just seven PGA Tour-sanctioned events, Matsuyama had six top-25 finishes, including a T-6 at the 2013 Open Championship.

Matsuyama earned his first PGA Tour win at the 2014 Memorial Tournament, beating Kevin Na in a playoff and moving to a career-high OWGR ranking of 13th. The win was the first for a Japanese player since Ryuji Imada in 2008. In his first full season as a PGA tour member, he finished 28th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Matsuyama would win his sixth Japan Golf Tour event late in the 2014 season. In November, the victory came at the Dunlop Phoenix in a playoff over Hiroshi Iwata.

Matsuyama finished fifth at the 2015 Masters Tournament, the best major finish of his career to that point.] He finished 16th in the FedEx Cup standings. In 8–11 October, he played for the International Team in the 2015 Presidents Cup and went 2–1–1 (win–loss–half).

On 7 February 2016, Matsuyama won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in a playoff with Rickie Fowler. He secured his victory on the fourth hole. The win moved him to 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest in his career.

On 16 October 2016, Matsuyama captured the Japan Open by three strokes over Yuta Ikeda and Lee Kyoung-hoon. The win was Matsuyama's first title at his country's national open and his seventh victory in Japan. The title gives Matsuyama victories in four of the Japan Golf Tour's five ¥200,000,000 events.

On 30 October 2016, Matsuyama followed up his Japan Open triumph by winning the WGC-HSBC Champions, colloquially known as "Asia's Major", in Shanghai. Matsuyama became the first Asian golfer to claim a World Golf Championship since the series was inaugurated in 1999. With the victory, Matsuyama rose to number 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest position and the second highest ever by a Japanese player after Masashi Ozaki, who achieved a ranking of fifth. He later moved up to fifth in the world after the Farmers Insurance Open.

On 13 November 2016, Matsuyama won his second Taiheiyo Masters, following his victory as a 19-year-old amateur in 2011. He romped to a seven-shot win over South Korea's Song Young-han.

On 4 December 2016, Matsuyama won the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

In Matsuyama's return to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, he again entered a playoff on Sunday to defend his title, this time against Webb Simpson. On the fourth playoff hole, Matsuyama made birdie to win the tournament for the second time in as many years. After finishing second in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, while the top three players in the world at the time (Dustin JohnsonRory McIlroy and Jason Day) failed to make the cut, Matsuyama reached 2nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ever, and the highest ever for a male Japanese golfer.

The 2017 season has been a breakthrough year with Matsuyama winning three Tour titles, including his first World Golf Championship, and three second-place finishes in his first 15 events, as well as winning $5,945,990, putting him second on the money list behind Dustin Johnson, before the month of July. He then won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August, shooting a course record-tying 61 in the final round to win by five strokes.

At the 2017 PGA Championship, Matsuyama had opening rounds of 70–64 to share the 36-hold lead, with Kevin Kisner at Quail Hollow.

In December 2019, Matsuyama played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won, 16–14. Matsuyama went 2–1–1 and halved his Sunday singles match against Tony Finau.

On 11 April 2021, Matsuyama won the Masters Tournament, becoming both the first Japanese player and the first Asian-born player to win the tournament. He finished with an overall score of 278 (−10), one shot ahead of runner-up Will Zalatoris. At the conclusion of the tournament, Matsuyama's caddie, Shota Hayafuji, bowed to the 18th fairway of the Augusta course as a gesture of Japanese respect.

Matsuyama's wife is Mei (married in January 2017) and his daughter is Kanna, born in July 2017.

Legend
Major championships (1)
World Golf Championships (2)
Other PGA Tour (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 1 Jun 2014 Memorial Tournament −13 (70-67-69-69=275) Playoff United States Kevin Na
2 7 Feb 2016 Waste Management Phoenix Open −14 (65-70-68-67=270) Playoff United States Rickie Fowler
3 30 Oct 2016 WGC-HSBC Champions −23 (66-65-68-66=265) 7 strokes United States Daniel BergerSweden Henrik Stenson
4 5 Feb 2017 Waste Management Phoenix Open (2) −17 (65-68-68-66=267) Playoff United States Webb Simpson
5 6 Aug 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational −16 (69-67-67-61=264) 5 strokes United States Zach Johnson
6 11 Apr 2021 Masters Tournament −10 (69-71-65-73=278) 1 stroke United States Will Zalatoris

PGA Tour playoff record (3–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2014 Memorial Tournament United States Kevin Na Won with par on first extra hole
2 2016 Waste Management Phoenix Open United States Rickie Fowler Won with par on fourth extra hole
3 2017 Waste Management Phoenix Open United States Webb Simpson Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Legend
Japan Opens (1)
Japan majors (1)
Other Japan Golf Tour (7)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 13 Nov 2011 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters
(as an amateur)
−13 (71-64-68=203)* 2 strokes Japan Toru Taniguchi
2 28 Apr 2013 Tsuruya Open −18 (69-63-68-66=266) 1 stroke United States David Oh
3 2 Jun 2013 Diamond Cup Golf −9 (71-69-68-71=279) 2 strokes Australia Brendan JonesSouth Korea Park Sung-joon,
South Korea Kim Hyung-sung
4 8 Sep 2013 Fujisankei Classic −9 (66-70-66-73=275) Playoff South Korea Park Sung-joonJapan Hideto Tanihara
5 1 Dec 2013 Casio World Open −12 (72-66-68-70=276) 1 stroke Japan Yuta Ikeda
6 23 Nov 2014 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament −15 (68-64-67-70=269) Playoff Japan Hiroshi Iwata
7 16 Oct 2016 Japan Open Golf Championship −5 (71-70-65-69=275) 3 strokes Japan Yuta IkedaSouth Korea Lee Kyoung-hoon
8 13 Nov 2016 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (2) −23 (65-66-65-69=265) 7 strokes South Korea Song Young-han

*Note: The 2013 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (2–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2013 Fujisankei Classic South Korea Park Sung-joonJapan Hideto Tanihara Won with birdie on second extra hole
2 2014 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Japan Hiroshi Iwata Won with par on first extra hole
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1 4 Dec 2016 Hero World Challenge −18 (65-67-65-73=270) 2 strokes Sweden Henrik Stenson
YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2021 Masters Tournament 4 shot lead −10 (69-71-65-73=278) 1 stroke United States Will Zalatoris

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament20112012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament T27LA T54   CUT 5 T7 T11 19
U.S. Open     T10 T35 T18 CUT T2 T16
The Open Championship     T6 T39 T18 CUT T14 CUT
PGA Championship     T19 T35 T37 T4 T5 T35
Tournament201920202021
Masters Tournament T32 T13 1
PGA Championship T16 T22  
U.S. Open T21 T17  
The Open Championship CUT NT