Japan on the rise but the sun’s not setting on Sergio
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA should look no further than Sergio Garcia to see why he needs to win a Major sooner rather than later.
Both were victorious last Sunday in differing, but equally impressive, circumstances.
Sergio led from start to finish in Dubai, not only holding off but outplaying Open Champion Henrik Stenson in the final round.
Matsuyama beat former US Open Champion Webb Simpson in a play-off to retain his title in Phoenix for his third win in America.
Having also beaten Rickie Fowler in a play-off there 12 months ago in front of those huge, partisan crowds, Matsuyama has the temperament to win golf ’s biggest prizes.
With five wins in his last nine tournaments, he is on a hot streak and is the best chance Japan has ever had of a Major Champion.
They have only ever had three world-class players – Isao Aoki, Tommy Nakajima and Jumbo Ozaki – but they never gave themselves a chance in Majors.
They preferred to focus on the lucrative Japanese Tour. The language barrier and lack of experience elsewhere cost them.
Matsuyama is different. He’s become a world player. He has already bagged a WGC event and has played well in Majors.
The challenge is maintaining his form between now and Augusta. If he can, he will certainly have a chance to win The Masters.
Hideki is still only 24, but he would love to get a Major on the board sooner rather than later, as Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth have done in recent years.
If you do that, suddenly you are looking to accumulate Majors rather than having to prove to everyone that you can do it.
That is the situation Garcia still faces, having come so close down the years. Just think, it’s nearly 18 years since he was runner-up to Tiger Woods as a teenager at the US PGA in 1999.
If he had won that, I’m sure he would have won a few by now. But Tiger was his nemesis then and on so many other occasions.
Now there is no dominant player around and Sergio should feel that, on his day, he is more than a match for anyone.
With victories in 22 different countries, he is definitely the best player not to win a Major. He can excel on any golf course with his superb play from tee to green.
In the last 12 months or so, he has started to putt better. That can only benefit him in the pressure moments.
Plus, he’s in a very good place now that he has got engaged to his American fiancée, Angela.
A settled personal life will only help him on the course. Jack Nicklaus always vouched that a happy family was an important ingredient in his success.
Even though he is now 37, he certainly doesn’t look it and I still don’t think we’ve seen the best of Sergio Garcia.
If he produces that in a Major, all the questions will stop. Without the Major, all his other stellar achievements will always have an asterisk attached.