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Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama
Born: 25 February 1992
Birthplace: Ehime, Japan
College: Tohoku Fukushi University, Japan
Resides: Sendai, Japan
Major Wins: 1
Euro or PGA Tour Wins: 7
Other wins: 9
Grass Preference: Dislikes Poa Annua
Significant Life Events: Unknown
GBC Wind Performance Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
GBC Pressure Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
BIO
Hideki reached a career low of 2nd in the Official World Golf Rankings in 2017 after finishing in the top 14 in each of the Majors. Having won 7 times in total over 2016-17, Hideki failed to win between August 2017 and April 2021.
Hideki ended that drought in spectacular fashion by winning The Masters in 2021. He added a Zozo Championship at the end of 2021 to cap off a successful year.
Hideki suffered a wrist injury in early 2018 and that led to the first year as a professional where he did not record a top-3 finish.
Significant info
None.
Pressure Performance Analysis
Summary
Hideki has won from both off the pace and leading going into the final round. He also has several examples of recording highly convincing wins (6+ stroke margins). If his putter is behaving he's definitely not afraid to win in style. His Golf Betting Club Pressure Performance Rating is set to ⭐⭐⭐⭐.
October 2021
✅ Led by 1 shot at the Zozo Championship and shot 65 to win by 5 shots!
August 2021
✅ Came from way off the pace with a 63 to reach a three-man playoff at the WGC - FedEx St Jude Invitational. Lost to Abraham Ancer in playoff.
July 2021
➖ One shot back going into the final round of the Olympic Golf competition, Hideki shot a 69 to slip into a tie for 3rd place, 3 shots back of Schauffele (he lost the bronze medal playoff).
April 2021
✅ Hideki led by four shots going into the final round of the Masters. A 73 meant he only triumphed by a shot but he was never in danger and frittered away a couple of shots in the closing holes.
August 2020
❌ Hideki held the joint 54 hole lead with Dustin Johnson at the BMW Championship. Never looked like the winner and a bogey on 11 ended his chances. Only two players in the top 15 shot a score worse than his 69.
October 2019
✅ In 2nd place going into the final round of the Zozo Championship. Hideki matched the winner's score (Tiger Woods - 67) in round 4 and remained 2nd.
July 2019
❌Two shots back going into the final round of the 3M Open, Hideki would shoot a 68 (joint worst of anyone in the top 14) to lose out by 5 strokes.
Trends
Stays Hot
10 of Hideki's 15 wins have followed a top-15 finish in his previous start. He's a player who can get very hot as evidenced by 4 wins in 5 starts at the end of 2016 (admittedly two of these wins were Japanese Tour events and one was Tiger's invitational event, the Hero World Challenge).
Time Of The Year
10 of Hideki's 16 wins have come in the second half of the year. It should of course be noted that several of these wins have come in lesser field events but the fact remains he appears to play better towards the end of a season.
Events to back Matsuyama
The Memorial
Hideki is one to watch at The Memorial tournament where he has posted four top-15 finishes in recent years.
PGA Championship
Hideki has a particularly brilliant record in the US PGA Championship, having finished no worse than 37th in NINE consecutive years.
ZOZO Championship
Played in his homeland in Japan, he has won and palced 2nd here since 2019.
Playoff Record
3-1.
Significant Quotes
2021 US Open
I love it here (Torrey Pines). I'm glad it's a venue, but it's sure a lot tougher than when we play here for Farmers.
2020 Players Championship
Q. Did you feel a day like today coming based on how you've been playing?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: No, I've been working hard and have a lot of confidence now in my swing, and last week was a tough week at Bay Hill, but today I made some putts and that seems to be the difference of recent late and that was really the catapult to me to have a good round today.
BMW Championship 2019
Q. Give me your thoughts headed into the weekend now.
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I'm really happy with my position. It's been a long time since I've been in contention. Hopefully I can play well. I've been struggling for a while this year. Hopefully that can turn around and I'll have a good weekend.
2017 Northern Trust
Q. Curious if you've had play the course yet, and if not, what are your impressions from other people or just seeing it out there?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I only played the back nine so far. I really like this golf course. The greens are undulated, and in order to play well here and to score well, you're going to have to putt well. I like the fairways aren't as narrow as some of the courses we've played recently. But the greens are poa annua greens, so that will be challenging for me.
