Hideki Matsuyama

Who is Hideki Matsuyama?

Hideki Matsuyama is a Japanese professional golfer, who at age 18, won the 2010 Asian Amateur Championship.

Matsuyama was born in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. He has studied, since 2010, at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. He won the 2010 Asian Amateur Championship with a score of 68-69-65-67=269. This gave him the chance to compete as an amateur in the 2011 Masters Tournament, becoming the first Japanese amateur to do so. At the Masters, Matsuyama was the leading amateur and won the Silver Cup, which is presented to the lowest scoring amateur. He was the only amateur to make the cut. A week after his victory, he finished in a tie for third at the Japan Open Golf Championship which is an event on the Japan Golf Tour.

In 2011, Matsuyama won the gold medal at the 2011 World University Games. He also led the Japan team to the gold medal in the team event. In October 2011, he successfully defended his title at the Asian Amateur Championship. In November, Matsuyama won the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Golf Tour while still an amateur.

In August 2012, Matsuyama reached number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.