SO FLAMOUS
After that superb Masters victory, Matsuyama now wants to light up Tokyo Olympics
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA is ready to light up the Olympic Games this summer after his brilliant Masters triumph.
Matsuyama was already big in Japan before becoming his golf-mad country’s first male winner of a Major title on Sunday night.
Now his rock-star status (one-time coach Yasuhiko Abe holds aloft coverage in yesterday’s Japanese newspapers, above) could see him become the face of his nation in the biggest sporting show on Earth.
Matsuyama still has three more Majors to play this year but tomorrow marks 100 days to go until the start of the Olympics on July 23.
“I’m really looking forward to the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” he said. “If I am on the team, and it looks like I will be, I’ll do my best to represent my country and hopefully I’ll play well.”
Bradley Wiggins lit the flame in London wearing his Yellow Jersey from the 2012 Tour de France. So could Matsuyama now wear his Green Jacket to perform the ritual in 2021?
“If the schedules worked out and I am in Japan when that happens and they ask me, what an honour that would be,” he said.
Former Masters winner Adam Scott claimed his friend is to Japan what Tiger Woods is to the rest of the world (Japanese workers check TV coverage of his Masters exploits, above right). But with such fame comes huge expectation.
Matsuyama’s last win came at the 2017 Wgcbridgestone when he shot a final-round 61.
World No.3 at the time, he entered the USPGA the following week as a favourite and led after 10 holes of the final round before making five bogeys on the back nine.
He wept on Japanese television after shooting 72 and finishing tied for fifth. The 29-year-old wobbled again at Augusta on Sunday but this time his closing 73 was enough to seal a one-shot win. It was his first victory with his caddie Shota Hayafuji (celebrating with Matsuyama, below), who put back the flagstick on the final hole after the winning putt, removed his cap, and bowed to the course.
Woods, a 15-time Major winner, took to social media to write: “Making Japan proud, Hideki. Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment for you and your country.” Jack Nicklaus added: “I competed against the great Isao Aoki and know how revered he was. Hideki will also now forever be a hero to his country.”
Matsuyama, who said his heroes were Japanese baseball players along with Woods, hopes to inspire future winners from Japan.
Speaking through a translator, Matsuyama said: “It’s thrilling to think that there are a lot of youngsters in Japan watching today.
“Hopefully in five, 10 years, when they get a little older, some of them will be competing on the world stage.
“Hopefully I have set an example that it is possible and that, if they set their mind to it, they can do it, too.”