Refreshed Matsuyama Back in the PGA Tour Swing

Dallas, Texas, United States: A month after becoming the first Japanese male Major champion, Hideki Matsuyama returns to PGA Tour action at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Refreshed and raring to go after a few weeks on home soil in Japan, the 29-year-old is among the star attractions in the field at TPC Craig Ranch.

The two-time former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship winner said his visit to Japan allowed him to reflect on his momentous Masters Tournament victory, and consider his prospects for further success.

Matsuyama, who was presented with the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award while in Japan, said: “I was quarantined for two weeks and I was able to probably read every news article and newspaper and magazine and TV.

“Seeing how the Masters win was portrayed in Japan was really unforgettable, and that stands out from my trip back to Japan. It was a bit embarrassing as I’m not used to all that attention, but grateful that people took notice.”

He returned to the US at the end of last week in preparation for this week’s stop in Texas and got back to work on Monday. With the mandatory quarantine at home and spending time with family in Sendai, Matsuyama shut down and decompressed from the historic victory.

He's now ready to get back into the grind in search of a seventh PGA Tour title.

Matsuyama said: “After you win a tournament, you make some adjustments. But going back to Japan, I didn’t get to practice very much at all. Coming back here, one of my goals now is just to try to find my game again and prepare for the PGA Championship next week. It was a relief, really, to win the Masters. Moving forward, I have the drive to want to win more on the PGA Tour.”

As he looks ahead to earning more silverware and preparing for July’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Matsuyama continues to contemplate what dishes to serve at the Masters Champions’ dinner next April. The winner enjoys the privilege of setting the menu and Matsuyama hopes to introduce some of Japan’s finest delicacies to fellow Masters champions.

“Sushi does come to mind. But I’m a little worried as I don’t know if everyone will like sushi. I’m going to check with some people and get their advice. There’s a lot of really good food from Japan, some of the best beef in the world. So, I’m thinking about that and looking forward to it next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson holds great significance for Korean Sung Kang, the defending champion. He won two years ago at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas and will defend this week at TPC Craig Ranch, which happens to be his home course. The tournament was not played last year due to Covid-19.

“I live about five miles from here and I’ve been practicing here probably the last 10 years. I became a member last year, so I really know the course and know the people here. I get a lot of good support and all the good influence so I’m very excited and I’ll be very comfortable on the golf course. It will be fun,” said Kang, who will play the first two rounds with Matsuyama and world number three Jon Rahm.

Sung is counting on the comfort of being at home to turn around his golf fortunes. This season, he’s missed more cuts than he’s made and currently lies 184th on the FedEx Cup ranking.

“Since the pandemic, I’ve been struggling until probably last month with technical problems in my golf swing. But my coach and myself, we figured what was going on and I got close to where it used to be. Now I’m actually working more with the technique. Hopefully everything works out great this week and I can get the same result as in 2019.”