The success of Matsuyama will inspire strong development in Asian Golf 06:52, 19/04/2021

 Korea’s Byeong Hun An will be the first to attest to the fact.

Two weeks after watching Yang defeat the great Tiger Woods in a head-to-head final-round duel at Hazeltine National, An won the prestigious U.S. Amateur Championship at Southern Hills to become the youngest champion in its history at age 17.

A regular now on the PGA TOUR, the Korean expects to see a steep rise in Japanese kids and aspiring golfers from across Asia making a beeline to the U.S. and emulating Matsuyama.Over the years, a sprinkling of Japanese golfers has made their way onto the PGA TOUR, with the likes of Isao Aoki, Shigeki Maruyama, Ryuji Imada and Satoshi Kodaira having won at least once at the game’s highest level.

 An has gotten to know Matsuyama better over the years, especially when they were International teammates at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. Watching Matsuyama grind out a one-stroke victory at Augusta National was special.

Satoshi Kodaira is the second Japanese golfer currently competing on the PGA TOUR and he reckons his countryman’s major breakthrough will be a boon for the game at home. And then, there is also the Olympic Games which Tokyo will host in July and Matsuyama will be the obvious main attraction in the men’s competition.

“It will only have a positive impact on the golf industry in Japan. Whether they are juniors already playing golf or the ones who have never touched a club in their life, kids across Japan will see that Hideki just won the Masters and will think to themselves that if Hideki can win, then I can win too. My hope would be that those same feelings will carry over to the kids in Japan.” 

 C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei saw first-hand how good Matsuyama truly was when they partnered for two matches in the Presidents Cup two years ago. They won both their Four-ball matches against Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed 1-up and 5 & 3. Pan marveled at how the 29-year-old Matsuyama, now a six-time PGA TOUR winner, handles the pressure and expectations of a golf-crazy nation.

India’s Anirban Lahiri hopes golf in his native country will be inspired by Matsuyama’s Masters heroics. “Hideki does a lot of amazing things for golf in Asia. The Olympics is in Japan and the country will be boasting their own Masters champion heading into the Olympics … how cool is that? It’s fantastic and every way you look at it, it’s going to be great for the development of golf in Asia. He’s already done a lot and in my opinion, he’s the most accomplished of the Japanese players globally and this is kind of the cherry on top and kind of makes him the undisputed person in that category.”