Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hideki Matsuyama is out to continue his stellar play as the PGA Tour begins its 2017 schedule.
KAPALUA, Hawaii — Unbeatable at the end of the year, Hideki Matsuyama went home to Japan and nearly met his match. His father. “It was close,” Matsuyama said, laughing as the translation was given in English.
No score was revealed, though none was necessary.
Matsuyama wrapped up his third straight victory in the Bahamas by holding off British Open champion Henrik Stenson, and then he headed home to spend time with family and friends. He had what he described as a “fair share” of sake to celebrate his best year — no one had more than his five victories worldwide — that elevated him to No. 6 in the world and into the elite of golf.
Still, nothing topped the time he spent with his father, Mikio Matsuyama.
“My father, when he played a lot, he was probably a plus-2,” Matsuyama said, referring to his father’s handicap index. “We hadn’t played for probably 10 years together. My father hadn’t even played golf for probably a year. So this past offseason, we were able to play. It was special.”
The tales of fathers and sons in golf go back as far as Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, and the bond with the Matsuyamas is special. Mikio Matsuyama introduced his son to golf, taught him the fundamentals and remains the only coach he ever had. He rarely travels with him except for the big tournaments, though he was there when his son won the Japan Open.
There wasn’t much to teach during their time in Japan. Matsuyama was the hottest player in golf at the end of the year, winning four of his last five tournaments while playing in four countries. And the last three victories were not really close.
He became the first Asian to win a World Golf Championship with his seven-shot victory over Stenson and Daniel Berger in the HSBC Champions. He won by seven in the Taiheiyo Masters in Japan. And he had a sevenshot lead over Stenson in the Hero World Challenge until a late stumble led to a twoshot victory.
Matsuyama is part of the next generation of stars, yet he brings an old-school mentality. The greatest value of learning the game from his father is understanding his own swing. If his swing is off, Matsuyama fixes it himself.
With five victories come high hopes.
Matsuyama will try to make it four straight victories in the SBS Tournament of Champions. In his only other appearance at Kapalua, he started the final round in a tie for the lead with Jimmy Walker, ran out of birdies and tied for third.
Spieth revisits Augusta’s 12th
Jordan Spieth hit 8-iron over the bunker on the 12th hole at Augusta National. He watched his 15-foot birdie putt tumble into the cup on the last turn, and he raised his arms in celebration.
Too bad this was December.
Eight months earlier, that birdie most likely would have led to another green jacket at the Masters.
Spieth, who lost a fiveshot lead on the back nine last April in his bid to become only the fourth backto-back Masters champion, returned to Augusta National for the first time during a visit with AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson and Geoff Yang, a founding partner of Redpoint Ventures. Both are club members.
The birdie on the 12th brought a small measure of redemption. At the Masters, he was still leading by three shots when he dumped two shots into Rae’s Creek and made a quadruple-bogey 7. By the time he finished the hole, he was three shots behind Danny Willett and never caught up.
“First time back,” Spieth said of his December round. “I was very nervous when I got on 12 tee.”