Japanese Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese to win the Augusta Masters, 85e of the name, and at the same time a Grand Slam golf tournament, Sunday in Georgia (United States).
Aged 29, he made a final card of -10, beating the American Will Zalatoris, author of a superb performance for his very first participation, by one stroke, and his compatriots Xander Sc Chaudele and Jordan Spieth by three strokes.
Successor to world No. 1 Dustin Johnson on the 25e The world player, who is expected to make a significant leap to the top of the rankings, now has six USPGA titles, including two WGC World Championships, which saw him rise to second in the world in 2017.
But this victory is without question the most prestigious of all, rewarding a player as talented as discreet, who enjoyed the places of honor in the Major (5e at the Masters 2015, second at the US Open 2017, 4e of the 2016 PGA Championship, 6e of the British Open 2013).
The pride of Japan
This coronation in Georgia is the first for a golfer coming from ” Country of the rising sun “, of which he was already a pioneer, in that he was the first amateur from his country to take part in 2011 and the only one to pass the cut, then finishing 27e and winning the Silver Cup, awarded to the best non-professional in the running.
” I am very happy. I hope that I will be a pioneer in this matter and that many other Japanese will follow. I am happy to open the door ”said the native of Matsuyama, a town on the island of Shikoku, who happens to be the second Asian golfer to win a Grand Slam, after South Korean Yong-eun Yang (PGA Championship 2009).
He was congratulated by Tiger Woods, recovering from his serious car accident which broke his right leg. “You make Japan proud, Hideki. Congratulations on this huge accomplishment for you and your country. This historic Masters victory will have an impact on the world of golf as a whole ”, said the man who was, 24 years earlier, the first half-breed, Black by his father, Asian by his mother, to be sacred in Augusta.
Japan is definitely in the spotlight in Augusta, as eight days earlier her young compatriot Tsubasa Kajitani, 17, won the Women’s Masters as an amateur. Previously, two professionals have won Majors: Hisako Higuchi, winner of the LPGA Championship in 1977 and Hinako Shibuno, winner of the British Open in 2019.
A tendency to crack under pressure
The day after his impressive takeover at the expense of the experienced Englishman Justin Rose who ranked 6e in the end, he made a solid first part of the course: after a bogey from the first hole, he quickly recovered by making a birdie on the second. Just after missing one at N.7, he managed two more at N.8 and N.9, increasing his lead to five lengths over Zalatoris.
Then in the “Back nine”, Matsuyama almost agreed with observers who lent him a tendency to crack under pressure. If he wiped out a bogey at 11 by birdie at 12, after being lucky enough to have his approach kicked back into the grass by a tree, he sent his ball into the river at 15 for a new bogey.
Xander ScHotele, chained him his fourth birdie in a row and came back to two shots (-12 to -10). But at the next hole it was the American who did the Japanese a favor by sending the ball in turn into the water, committing a triple bogey which destroyed his ascent.
Proof that he was not completely reassured, Matsuyama again conceded a bogey on this N.16, counting again only two lengths on Zalatoris, this time, who had just finished. On the last two holes, the Japanese had to take no risk to avoid further mistakes.
His heart beating very hard under the polo shirt, he nevertheless made a bogey at N.18, but without damage to his fate of winner. “The nervousness didn’t really win me over the “back nine”. Today she was in me from the start to the last putt ”Matsuyama said afterwards. A final liberating putt, therefore, which occurred, through the jet lag, when the “land of the rising sun” woke up, inevitably in ecstasy.