Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama made history on Sunday when he won the World Golf Championships HSBC Champions in China.
Hideki Matsuyama Japan is First Asianborn
At Sheshan International in Shanghai, Matsuyama won by seven strokes at 23-under 265 to make history as the first Japanese and Asian player to win an individual WGC since the tournament’s inception in 1999.
When it was still run by the World Golf Championships, Toshimitsu Izawa and Shigeki Maruyama won the World Cup of Golf in 2002. Y.E. Yang is the only player of Asian descent to win a men’s major, and no player of Asian descent has ever won The Players.
The two-time Asia Pacific Amateur winner expressed his desire for the victory to revitalise golf in Japan.
It’s a tremendous victory for me, and I hope it’s a nice victory and a great victory for Japan, and that it inspires more people to take up golf.
However, Matsuyama acknowledged that he is simply one of many Asian male professionals making waves in their respective fields. Two years ago, Byeong-hun An took home the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s biggest and most prestigious title. In 2009, Yang finally broke through and won big. Also, China has not yet established its dominance in the men’s game, as Matsuyama acknowledges.
He confidently predicted that Chinese golf will explode in popularity in the future. The time when a Chinese player challenges for a major championship is drawing near.
The victory is evidence of Tiger Woods’ continued dominance in the tournament. So far in his career, he has 18 WGC victories to his name. As a continent, Australia has won eight World Golf Championships. Five different English golfers have won the WGC, while four different South Africans and three different Irish golfers have done so. All eyes are now on Asia.
Despite its significance, this seems to be only the beginning for Matsuyama, who has been less productive than his contemporaries on the PGA Tour. The likes of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Jason Day have all won majors. On the PGA Tour, several players younger than 30 have had better success.
Now that Matsuyama has tied for fourth place in the PGA Championship in July, it is evident that 2016 is a breakthrough year for him. In addition to his Phoenix victory earlier this year, his stellar play throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs finally paid off with his third career PGA Tour victory. The 24-year-old has a good idea of where 2017 could take him.
His next objective is, “of course, to win a major,” and he plans to do everything in his power to get ready for it. “Winning today, I feel has taken me closer to being able to compete a lot better in the major events,” he said.
