Few gave Matsuyama much of a chance
The Japanese golfer had come close in majors before hitting a dry spell. Not even he thought he’d have a shot at the 85th Masters.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – No one was giving Hideki Matsuyama much of a chance to become Japan’s first men’s major championship winner at the 85th Masters, including Matsuyama.
Although he finished in a tie for 13th in the November 2020 Masters, the 29-year-old’s best finish had been a tie for 15th place in nine events he’d played in since leaving Augusta National Golf Club’s grounds Nov. 15 with even par 72.
“It’s been a struggle recently,” he said. “This year, no top-10s, haven’t even contended. So I came to Augusta with little or no expectations.”
His fifth and last win on the PGA Tour had been in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in August 2017.
“But as the week progressed, as I practiced, especially on Wednesday, I felt something again,” Matsuyama said. “I found in my swing. And when that happens, the confidence returns. And so I started the tournament with a lot of confidence.”
He opened with 69, four shots behind leader Justin Rose, but tied for second place. A second-round 71 left Matsuyama in a tie for sixth place, three shots behind the leader, Rose. Matsuyama then took control of the tournament after a third-round 65, the lone bogey-free round through 54 holes.
It gave Matsuyama a four-shot lead. He needed all of them after playing his final four holes in 2 over par in the final round for 73 to finish at 10 under 278. He beat Masters rookie Will Zalatoris by one shot and no doubt
inspired his countrymen, both young and old.
“It’s thrilling to think that there are a lot of youngsters in Japan watching today,” Matsuyama said after the victory. “Hopefully in five, 10 years, when they get a little older, hopefully some of them will be competing on the world stage. But I still have a lot of years left, so they are going to have to compete against me still. But I’m happy for them because hopefully they will be able to follow in my footsteps.”
Matsuyama had come close in majors before hitting a dry spell. He was the runner-up in the 2017 U.S. Open, tied for fifth in the 2016 PGA Championship, was fifth in the 2015 Masters and tied for sixth in the 2013 British Open.
After Matsuyama was the runner-up in the 2017 U.S. Open, it looked like a major championship was on the horizon. He was ranked No. 2 in the world at the time.
“No one really wants to talk about how much pressure is on him,” said Xander Schauffele, who tied for third place in the Masters. “You look at the media that follows him. You look at what he’s done in his career. He’s a topranked player with a ton of pressure on him, and that’s the hardest way to play.
He’s able to do it, and he’s the first countryman to win the tournament, a major championship.
“Everyone was hoping and thought he was going to win one a long time ago, and he kind of lost a little bit of form. I know his team relatively well, and he kept working hard through all of it. So big kudos to him and his team.”
Like Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth led by four shots entering the final round of a Masters, in 2015. He went on to win by that number. “He’s got a lot of pressure on himself today,” Spieth said after his round on Sunday, but before Matsuyama had finished his.
“I remember the feeling on a fourshot lead, and he’s got Japan on his back and maybe Asia on his back,” said Spieth, who closed with 70 and tied for third with Schauffele. “I can’t imagine kind of how that was trying to sleep on that, even with somebody who’s had so much success. He’s a great young player who inevitably was going to win major championships, in my opinion.”
Perhaps Matsuyama’s Masters victory will also give a spark to the current crop of Japanese pros, of which Matsuyama is the only star. Matsuyama, who moved up from 25th to 14th in the world golf ranking after his win, is one of just two Japanese ranked in the top 100. Shugo Imahira, who played in the 2019 and 2020 Masters, is ranked 83rd.
Matsuyama was the only one from his country to qualify for the 2021 Masters. Counting Matsuyama, there were four in both 2018 and 2019 and just Matsuyama and Imahira, who is 28, in the 2020 Masters.
Since his Masters debut in 2011, Matsuyama has defined Japanese golf, especially at Augusta National, where Matsuyama has failed to qualify just one year (2013). Only once in his 10 starts has he not been the low Japanese player. That was in 2011 when Ryo Ishikawa tied for 20th place and Matsuyama was the low amateur, tying for 27th place.
Schauffele got a close up view of Matsuyama’s march to victory. They were paired in the final two rounds.
“Man, he was something else,” Schauffele said. “He played like a winner needs to play. He was like a robot.”