Hideki Matsuyama of Matsuyama, Japan became the first golfer from Asia to win the Masters on Sunday. The 29-year-old shot a four-round score of -10 to beat Will Zalatoris of the United States by a stroke. In the process, Matsuyama won $2.07 million.
In the final round, Matsuyama shot a score of 73. It was not the best round of golf. In fact, the four golfers behind him were better on Sunday. However, Matsuyama had done enough to protect his four-stroke lead from round three.
In the process, Matsuyama also became the first Japanese man to win a men’s major golf tournament. Two Japanese women have won women’s majors. Chako Higuchi of Kawagoe, Japan won the 1977 LPGA Championship in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and in 2019, Hinako Shibuno won the 2019 Women’s British Open from Milton Keynes, England.
Only one other golfer born in Asia has ever won a men’s major golf tournament. That honour belongs to Y.E. Yang of Sindo-ri, South Korea, who won the 2009 PGA Championship by three strokes over Tiger Woods at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
Matsuyama’s victory also comes at a time when Japan will be hosting the world’s best golfers at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo from July 29 to August 1 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe. One could argue it will be the biggest golf event ever hosted by Japan, and it comes in the exact same year, their new golf star won his first major title. With the win, Matsuyama also moves up 11 places in the Official World Golf Rankings from 25th to 14th.
