Japanese amateur Hideki Matsuyama has enjoyed a fruitful 18 months.
He won the Asian Amateur Championship in the
fall of 2010 to earn his first trip to the Masters Tournament.
He made the cut in his first visit to Augusta National Golf Club and earned the silver cup awarded to the low amateur with his tie for 27th.
Six months later, at Singapore Island Country Club, he repeated as Asian Amateur champ to get into this year’s Masters.
He backed that up with a victory in the Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Golf Tour, beating a field that included reigning Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.
Matsuyama eagled the final hole to win by two strokes. He credited his Masters experience for helping him become just the third amateur to win on Japan’s pro tour.
“I didn’t expect to win this tournament. I wanted to be just the low amateur here, but to my surprise, I won,” he said.
At the Asian Amateur, Matsuyama blitzed the final 36 holes with rounds of 65 and 67. He beat South Korea’s Lee Soo-min by a shot.
He opened with rounds of 67 and 71, and his 72-hole total of 18-under par established a record in the three-year- old event.