Hideki Matsuyama

Hideki Matsuyama
松山 英樹
Matsuyama (second from right) during a round with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japan Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Personal information
Born (1992-02-25) 25 February 1992
Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 90 kg (200 lb; 14 st)
Nationality  Japan
Career
College Tohoku Fukushi University
Turned professional 2013
Current tour(s) Japan Golf Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins 14
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 5
European Tour 2
Japan Golf Tour 8
Other 1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament 5th: 2015
U.S. Open T2: 2017
The Open Championship T6: 2013
PGA Championship T4: 2016
Achievements and awards
Japan Golf Tour
leading money winner
2013

Hideki Matsuyama (松山 英樹, Matsuyama Hideki, born 25 February 1992) is a Japanese professional golfer. He won the Asian Amateur Championship in 2010 and 2011. He is a five-time PGA Tour winner, and an eight-time Japan Golf Tour winner. On 19 June 2017, Matsuyama became the world No. 2-ranked player on the Official World Golf Ranking after his runner-up finish at the 2017 U.S. Open.

Early life and amateur career

Matsuyama was born in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. 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.

He studied at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. He won the 2010 Asian Amateur Championship with a score of 68-69-65-67=269.[1] 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.[2] He was the only amateur to make the cut.[3] A week after his victory, he finished in a tie for third at the Japan Open Golf Championship which 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.[4] In November, Matsuyama won the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Golf Tour while still an amateur.[5]

In August 2012, Matsuyama reached number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.[6]

Professional career

2013

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.

2014

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.[7]

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.

2015

Matsuyama finished fifth at the 2015 Masters Tournament, the best major finish of his career.[8] 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).

2016

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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[11]

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

2017

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 Johnson, Rory 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.[12]

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

Amateur wins (5)

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (5)

Legend
World Golf Championships (2)
Other PGA Tour events (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin 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 Berger, Sweden 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

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

Japan Golf Tour wins (8)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin 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 Jones, South 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-joon, Japan 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 −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 Ikeda, South 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

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
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
  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00012476
U.S. Open01012465
The Open Championship00001364
PGA Championship00022366
Totals01047142521
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (2014 U.S. Open – 2016 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2013 U.S. Open – 2013 Open Championship)

World Golf Championships

Wins (2)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMargin of victoryRunner(s)-up
2016 WGC-HSBC Champions 3 shot lead −23 (66-65-68-66=265) 7 strokes United States Daniel Berger, Sweden Henrik Stenson
2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2 shot deficit −16 (69-67-67-61=264) 5 strokes United States Zach Johnson

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament201320142015201620172018
Mexico Championship T34 T23 T35 T25
Match Play R32 R16 T18 T51 T36
Bridgestone Invitational T21 T12 T37 T42 1 T39
HSBC Champions WD T41 WD 1 T50
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

WD = Withdrew
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied

PGA Tour career summary

SeasonStartsCuts
made
Wins
(majors)
2nd3rdTop-10Top-25Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
2011210000000
2012210000000
20137600026690,4730
201424201014122,837,47727
201525230129193,758,61915
201623171018144,193,9549[13]
201722203307128,380,5704[14]
201821180004122,687,47739[15]
Career*126106544347522,548,570362[16]

* As of the 2018 season

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

References

  1. "Hideki Matsuyama wins spot in Masters". ESPN. Associated Press. 10 October 2010.
  2. Brown, Oliver (11 April 2011). "The Masters 2011 diary: Hideki Matsuyama's tough decision is rewarded". The Telegraph.
  3. Steinbreder, John (10 April 2011). "Matsuyama Gains Priceless Memories". Masters. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011.
  4. "Hideki Matsuyama wins Asian Amateur". ESPN. Associated Press. 2 October 2011.
  5. Young, Bruce (14 November 2011). "Amateur star Matsuyama wins in Japan". iseekgolf.com.
  6. "All change at the top as Matsuyama moves into top spot". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  7. "FedExCup – Official Standing". PGA Tour. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  8. "Masters 2015: Jordan Spieth wins first major with dominant display". BBC Sport. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  9. Nicholson, John (7 February 2016). "Hideki Matsuyama beats Rickie Fowler in playoff at Phoenix Open". PGA of America. Associated Press. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  10. "Japan Open Golf Championship 2016 Leaderboard". Japan Golf Tour. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Matsuyama Wins Taiheiyo Masters, His Third Win in Four Weeks". Yahoo. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  12. Harig, Bob (6 August 2017). "Win raises Matsuyama's profile ahead of PGA Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  13. "2016 Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  14. "2017 Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  15. "2017 Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  16. "Career Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
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