The Masters. The most prestigious golf tournament in the world. And the winner, Hideki Matsuyama. He is now the winner of the Masters, for this year and will stay crowned as champion for the rest of the year. People around the world started to notice this young golfer when he shot an astonishing 65 on Saturday which put him into a healthy lead. Then Sunday came around, the last day. Everyone was cheering for someone different, just like any other sporting event, but the Masters is slightly different. Golf is often stereotyped as a slow boring sport, but yesterday, as the Masters was coming to a close, it was not so boring. Matsuyama was on the 15th hole with with a solid 4 shot lead of his closest competitor. All Matsuyama fans were feeling confident in the results. But then a fateful shot over the hole, over the green and into the water. (This is a hazard shot and you lose a stroke on the hole setting your score forward 1) But he finished the hole with a bogey meaning one over par. This means that he gained one stroke which in most other sports gaining would not be so bad, but in golf gaining is the opposite of what you want to be doing. Meaning that he would only be in the lead by 3 strokes, but his competitor happened to birdie the hole that he was playing on meaning that he lost a stroke. This now meant that Matsuyama was only in a 2 stroke lead. Would the Japanese golfer be able to hold it together with the weight of Japan on his shoulders?

Hole 16 and only a 2 stroke lead. This means that with a singular bad hole he could lose the most prestigious jacket and trophy in golf and the Japanese would remain winless in men’s major tournaments. We have to keep in mind that 6-7 holes ago he had a 5 stroke lead over everyone. So the pressure was really on now. Throughout the next three holes he got two more bogeys that put him back a couple of strokes again winning by a mere 1 shot. Will Zalatoris (2nd place finisher) could not pull through. So after an extremely stressful last 4 holes Matsuyama would go home a champion! Representing his country and himself as a golfer. He made a total of $2,070,000, in 4 days. It was all worth it when he put the green jacket on. This green jacket is not any old green jacket; this is like the trophy of the Masters. Putting that jacket on is like lifting up the world cup trophy, or lifting the champions league trophy, or snipping the net in the NCAA tournament, or lifting the Super Bowl trophy. That is what it was like for young 29 year old Matsuyama. This seems like just the beginning. 

Throughout the next 24 hours after his win, he became an international sensation in golf. Tiger Woods, a golfing legend, tweeted out closely after the win and said “Making Japan proud Hideki. Congratulations for such a huge accomplishment for you and your country. This historical @TheMasters win will impact the entire world of golf.” This is quite the comment, and just adds to how amazing the win felt for Matsuyama. Of course commentators and hosts commented about his amazing performance, but so did other prestigious golfers such as Paige Spiranac. (Former LPGA star) She stated “Well deserved Hideki Matsuyama!” As you can see, not only did he win the Masters, but he won recognition from major people. He caught the eyes of many people, and that will help his career go so much further. Before this he had not won any major tournaments on the PGA tour. These four days have just skyrocketed him into fame.

So as you can see this is huge for Matsuyama, but also for Japan. He is now recognized as an elite golfer, being noticed by the likes of Tiger Woods and Paige Spiranac, (which is an accomplishment in of itself) and he also won a major tournament, which will help him grow in the future. That future is very bright for Hideki Matsuyama. It’s likely that he’ll be on the next cover of the Golf magazine, or the front page of a Srixon catalog modeling their new clothing line or golf clubs. Nobody knows what is coming next, but make sure that you count on seeing young star Hideki Matsuyama in the future.