Major win is surely just a Matter of time now..

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA stands on the brink of immortality at Quail Hollow.

Only one Asian man – South Korea’s YE Yang at the 2009 PGA – has managed to win a major.

But Matsuyama will bid to break even newer ground by becoming the first ever Japanese major winner at this week’s US PGA.

Earlier this week, the PGA Tour website simply wrote “it’s his time” alongside Hideki’s power ranking and you sense he will write his name in golfing folklore sooner rather than later.

His ball striking is imperious and at times it felt like a tee-to-green clinic en route to winning last week’s Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone.

But the big change in the past two years has been his putting. A bit like Rory Mcilroy, he didn’t always complement his long game with an assured touch on the greens, but that has changed.

He boasts the complete game now and in the last two seasons he has delivered six worldwide wins, three of them coming on this year’s PGA Tour.

I was really impressed with Matsuyama at last month’s Irish Open. Indeed, I have followed his career closely since first talking him up in this column four years ago.

I recall tipping him as a 300/1 each-way shot for the 2013 US Open, predicting “this kid will be a superstar”. Funny how things turn out.

Matsuyama finished T10 at that event and to date he has achieved everything he would have hoped for: apart from a major.

Some are concerned that the emotion of his stunning win at Akron last week will leave him drained for an assault on the final major of 2017. I disagree.

Had it been a nerve-shredding, final hole drama, maybe – but winning in the assured, cruise control manner he did won’t adversely affect him.

He’ll be pumped full of confidence and his recent form and ascent to the top of the Fedex Cup rankings suggest he’ll be more than comfortable with the white heat of Quail Hollow.

Matsuyama has a real chance, but at 11/1 he is only third favourite behind Mcilroy (13/2) and Jordan Spieth (9s).

While Rory is targeting a first major in three years, Spieth has the added incentive of chasing a personal grand slam following his recent heroics at Royal Birkdale.

To hold four majors at the age of 24 would be an outrageous achievement, but how he deals with the spotlight and hype this week will be his greatest challenge.

Quail Hollow is a long course – it will play as a par 71 over 7,600 yards – and that will test Spieth’s game to the max.

The Texan has a knack of confounding his critics, but the track and weight of history might prove too much.

Matsuyama however, is another matter.

Quail Hollow is a long course & will test Spieth to the very limit