Hideki Matsuyama: 5 Things To Know About The Masters Champion

AUGUSTA, GA — Hideki Matsuyama made history on Sunday when he became the first Japanese golfer to win a professional major men's golf championship as The Masters champion.

Matsuyama finished play at the four-day tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia at 10-under, one stroke ahead of runner-up Will Zalatoris.

The groundbreaking win comes nearly a half-century after Higuchi Hisako became the first Asian-born person, man or woman, to win a major pro champion with a victory at the LPGA Championship in 1977.

Matsuyama's victory at golf's most prestigious yearly tournament capped a decadelong journey for the 29-year-old, who went from amateur to pro to Masters champion during that time.

Here are five things to know about Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion:

1. He Was "Low Amateur" At 2011 Masters: Matsuyama was the "low amateur" — the amateur golfer with the best score — at the 2011 Masters tournament won by Charl Schwartzel. His low amateur status that year "transcended golf" in Japan, Golf Digest wrote, as the country remained in mourning from an earthquake that caused a nuclear power accident that killed more than 19,000 Japanese citizens just weeks earlier.

Matsuyama officially became the world's top amateur in 2012 and turned pro in 2013.

ESPN's SportsCenter pointed out the difference 10 years makes with a two-shot tweet of the golfer from then and now.

10 years ago, Hideki Matsuyama was the low amateur at #theMasters

Now, he’s won himself the green jacket. pic.twitter.com/R43Iiu8Gha
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 11, 2021

2. He's Humble And "Shy": Matsuyama is "really, really shy," Golf Today Japan journalist Eiko Oizumi said in 2017, according to the Olympic Channel. "He doesn't want to show his private life."

That became evident that year as golf reporters didn't find out until August that Matsuyama got married nine months earlier.

"No one really asked me if I was married," the golfer said. "So I didn’t have to answer that question.”

His humble demeanor continued during the green jacket ceremony following this year's Masters when he was asked if becoming the first to win a major pro championship makes him the best Asian golfer ever.

"I can't say I'm the greatest; however, I'm the first to win a major, and if that's the bar then, I've said it," he said.

See More: Hideki Matsuyama Becomes First Japanese Golfer To Win The Masters

3. A Monumental Win For Japan: As much of an impact Matsuyama's 2011 low amateur status transcended the game of golf for Japanese athletes, his win at The Masters could do even more.

Tiger Woods, the world's most popular golfer and a five-time Masters winner himself, tweeted on the subject as he continues to recover from a February car crash that kept him out of The Masters field this year.

“Making Japan proud Hideki,” Woods tweeted after Matsuyama's Masters win. “Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment for you and your country. This historical Masters win will impact the entire golf world.”

Matsuyama said during Sunday's green jacket ceremony that he hopes to be a "pioneer" for other Japanese athletes .

"In the meantime, I will try to win more," he said.

4. Undefeated In Playoff Rounds: Golf experts and analysts were puzzled by a "massive mistake" Matsuyama made on hole 15 on Sunday. Leading by four strokes with four holes to go, Matsuyama got aggressive on his second shot at the hole, overshooting the green and watching his ball land in the water.

Some were worried that the error might drop him into a tie with the charging Zalatoris or Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth or Jon Rahm, all of whom finished in the top five Sunday.

Matsuyama himself might not have been too worried about a playoff hole, however. He's never lost one on a PGA Tour event, sporting a perfect 3-0 playoff record. In 2014, he defeated Kevin Na at the Memorial Tournament, and defeated both Rickie Fowler (2016) and Webb Simpson (2017) in playoff rounds at the Phoenix Open.

5. His Signature Swing: Perhaps the most noticeable and unique aspect of Matsuyama's golf game is his swing. On every tee shot, he pauses for a brief second with the club up in the air before knocking the ball off the tee. The PGA Tour has provided a compilation of how Matsuyama's swing has progressed in the eight years since he turned pro.

How that became part of the routine is something the 2021 Masters champion can't say himself.

“I don’t even know I pause, so it’s hard for me to say, ‘OK, what am I thinking at the top or what’s my first swing thought in the transition,’” Matsuyama told Golf Digest through a Japanese interpreter in 2018.

“I really don’t know how that pause got into my swing. I guess as far as timing is concerned, I try to be as slow as I can at the top.”