Hideki Matsuyama


Hideki Matsuyama is a Japanese professional golfer. He won the Asian Amateur Championship in 2010 and 2011. He is a five-time PGA Tour winner, and an eight-time Japan Golf Tour winner. On 19 June 2017, Matsuyama became the world No. 2-ranked player on the Official World Golf Ranking after his runner-up finish at the 2017 U.S. Open.

Early life and amateur career

Matsuyama was born in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. He was introduced to golf at the age of four, by his father. During eighth grade, he transferred to Meitoku Gijuku Junior & Senior High School in Kochi Prefecture, in search of a better golf environment.
He studied at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. He won the 2010 Asian Amateur Championship with a score of 68-69-65-67=269. This gave him the chance to compete as an amateur in the 2011 Masters Tournament, becoming the first Japanese amateur to do so. At the Masters, Matsuyama was the leading amateur and won the Silver Cup, which is presented to the lowest scoring amateur. He was the only amateur to make the cut. A week after his victory, he finished in a tie for third at the Japan Open Golf Championship which is an event on the Japan Golf Tour.
In 2011, Matsuyama won the gold medal at the 2011 World University Games. He also led the Japan team to the gold medal in the team event. In October 2011, he successfully defended his title at the Asian Amateur Championship. In November, Matsuyama won the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Golf Tour while still an amateur.
In August 2012, Matsuyama reached number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Professional career

2013

Matsuyama turned professional in April 2013 and won his second professional tournament, the 2013 Tsuruya Open on the Japan Golf Tour. Five weeks later, Matsuyama won his third title on the Japan Golf Tour at the Diamond Cup Golf tournament. Following a top 10 finish at the 2013 U.S. Open, Matsuyama entered the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He won his fourth Japan Golf Tour event in September at the Fujisankei Classic. Matsuyama would win his fifth Japan Golf Tour event in December at the Casio World Open. The win also made Matsuyama the first rookie to lead the Japan Tour's money list.

2014

For 2014, Matsuyama qualified for the PGA Tour through non-member earnings. In just seven PGA Tour-sanctioned events, Matsuyama had six top-25 finishes, including a T-6 at the 2013 Open Championship.
Matsuyama earned his first PGA Tour win at the 2014 Memorial Tournament, beating Kevin Na in a playoff and moving to a career-high OWGR ranking of 13th. The win was the first for a Japanese player since Ryuji Imada in 2008. In his first full season as a PGA tour member, he finished 28th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Matsuyama would win his sixth Japan Golf Tour event late in the 2014 season. In November, the victory came at the Dunlop Phoenix in a playoff over Hiroshi Iwata.

2015

Matsuyama finished fifth at the 2015 Masters Tournament, the best major finish of his career. He finished 16th in the FedEx Cup standings. In 8–11 October, he played for the International Team in the 2015 Presidents Cup and went 2–1–1.

2016

On 7 February 2016, Matsuyama won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in a playoff with Rickie Fowler. He secured his victory on the fourth hole. The win moved him to 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest in his career.
On 16 October 2016, Matsuyama captured the Japan Open by three strokes over Yuta Ikeda and Lee Kyoung-hoon. The win was Matsuyama's first title at his country's national open and his seventh victory in Japan. The title gives Matsuyama victories in four of the Japan Golf Tour's five ￥200,000,000 events.
On 30 October 2016, Matsuyama followed up his Japan Open triumph by winning the WGC-HSBC Champions, colloquially known as "Asia's Major", in Shanghai. Matsuyama became the first Asian golfer to claim a World Golf Championship since the series was inaugurated in 1999. With the victory, Matsuyama rose to number 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest position and the second highest ever by a Japanese player after Masashi Ozaki, who achieved a ranking of fifth. He later moved up to fifth in the world after the Farmers Insurance Open.
On 13 November 2016, Matsuyama won his second Taiheiyo Masters, following his victory as a 19-year-old amateur in 2011. He romped to a seven-shot win over South Korea's Song Young-han.
On 4 December 2016, Matsuyama won the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

2017

In Matsuyama's return to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, he again entered a playoff on Sunday to defend his title, this time against Webb Simpson. On the fourth playoff hole, Matsuyama made birdie to win the tournament for the second time in as many years. After finishing second in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, while the top three players in the world at the time failed to make the cut, Matsuyama reached 2nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ever, and the highest ever for a male Japanese golfer.
The 2017 season has been a breakthrough year with Matsuyama winning three Tour titles, including his first World Golf Championship, and three second-place finishes in his first 15 events, as well as winning $5,945,990, putting him second on the money list behind Dustin Johnson, before the month of July. He then won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August, shooting a course record-tying 61 in the final round to win by five strokes.
At the 2017 PGA Championship, Matsuyama continued his excellent form with opening rounds of 70-64 to share the 36-hold lead, with Kevin Kisner at Quail Hollow.

2019

In December 2019, Matsuyama played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Matsuyama went 2–1–1 and halved his Sunday singles match against Tony Finau.

Amateur wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (5)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
11 Jun 2014Memorial Tournament−13 Playoff Kevin Na
27 Feb 2016Waste Management Phoenix Open−14 Playoff Rickie Fowler
330 Oct 2016WGC-HSBC Champions−23 7 strokes Daniel Berger, Henrik Stenson
45 Feb 2017Waste Management Phoenix Open −17 Playoff Webb Simpson
56 Aug 2017WGC-Bridgestone Invitational−16 5 strokes Zach Johnson

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12014Memorial Tournament Kevin NaWon with par on first extra hole
22016Waste Management Phoenix Open Rickie FowlerWon with par on fourth extra hole
32017Waste Management Phoenix Open Webb SimpsonWon with birdie on fourth extra hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (8)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
113 Nov 2011Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters
−13 *2 strokes Toru Taniguchi
228 Apr 2013Tsuruya Open−18 1 stroke David Oh
32 Jun 2013Diamond Cup Golf−9 2 strokes Brendan Jones, Park Sung-joon,
Kim Hyung-sung
48 Sep 2013Fujisankei Classic−9 Playoff Park Sung-joon, Hideto Tanihara
51 Dec 2013Casio World Open−12 1 stroke Yuta Ikeda
623 Nov 2014Dunlop Phoenix Tournament−15 Playoff Hiroshi Iwata
716 Oct 2016Japan Open Golf Championship−5 3 strokes Yuta Ikeda, Lee Kyoung-hoon
813 Nov 2016Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters −23 7 strokes Song Young-han

*Note: The 2013 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
Japan Golf Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12013Fujisankei Classic Park Sung-joon, Hideto TaniharaWon with birdie on second extra hole
22014Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Hiroshi IwataWon with par on first extra hole

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

World Golf Championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.
Tournament20132014201520162017201820192020
ChampionshipT34T23T35T25T19T6
Match PlayR32R16T18T51T36T24NT1
InvitationalT21T12T37T421T39T43
ChampionsWDT41WD1T50T30T11

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
WD = Withdrew
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied

PGA Tour career summary

* As of the 2019 season

Team appearances

Amateur
Professional