Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shines brightest for Asian golf in 2024

As another year draws to a close, one thing remains certain – the sun always rises in the Far East with Japan truly basking in the glory of its most famous golfing son, Hideki Matsuyama.

The 32-year-old Matsuyama was the star of the show in 2024 for Asian golf, when he won twice on the PGA Tour to cement his stature as the most decorated player from the region with 10 career victories.

The 2021 Masters champion was triumphant at the Genesis Invitational in February and FedEx St Jude Championship in August, as he finished tied-ninth in the FedExCup and will conclude the year as the world No. 6 player. Matsuyama also clinched the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

In Japan, the word “senpai”, simply translated, means “senior”, which is both a natural and respectful way of referring to someone who is your elder.

Matsuyama has certainly played the big-brother role to aspiring Japanese golfers that the likes of Rikuya Hoshino, Kaito Onishi and Takumi Kanaya have risen with successful campaigns in 2024 as well, and will join Matsuyama and his 22-year-old compatriot, Ryo Hisatsune, on the PGA Tour in 2025.

Hoshino, Onishi and Kanaya all took different routes to golf’s promised land, with Hoshino earning his way through the DP World Tour top 10, Onishi via the Korn Ferry Tour top 30 and Kanaya finishing in the top five of the PGA Tour qualifying school final. It is believed the last time there were five Japanese golfers on the tour was back in 2003.

“I’m really not the pioneer. There’s been so many others that have come before me and have laid the foundation for me to achieve this goal,” said Matsuyama, referring to the likes of Isao Aoki, Shigeki Maruyama, Ryuji Imada and Satoshi Kodaira who have all won on the PGA Tour previously.

“So it’s not just me, but it’s all of those that have gone before me that have tried and struggled and put the work in and were great examples to me.”

Asia also welcomed its newest PGA Tour winner when Kevin Yu broke through at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, becoming only the third Chinese Taipei golfer after Chen Tze-chung (1987 Los Angeles Open, now the Genesis Invitational) and Pan Cheng-tsung (2019 RBC Heritage) to win on the elite circuit.

“It’s literally a dream come true,” said Yu. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was five. I think this is the dream for all the golfers, to win on the PGA Tour. And then I did it.”

Yu has wasted no time in his role to spur the development of junior golfers back home by hosting his first elite golf camp earlier in December when 13 juniors were in attendance.

When he was a kid, Yu was inspired after attending a clinic by former women’s world No. 1 Tseng Ya-ni, who is also Taiwanese.

“I’ve always wanted to give back to golf in general. What I’ve been through in my journey, it’s the same for these kids. If I can offer my time and help them achieve their goals, that would be good. I just wanted to share some of my experiences with them,” he said.

“When I was young, I went to a Tseng Ya-ni clinic a couple of times. It is one of the best memories of my life. You see them win tournaments, and I want to emulate them. I was like maybe 10 or 12 when I attended the clinic with Ya-ni.

“It was quite an inspiration. Just watching her play a bit, it was great. I remember she talked about the mentality of being on the golf course and showing resilience. That was cool.”

There were no South Korean winners this season but Im Sung-jae and An Byeong-hun stood out by qualifying for the FedExCup play-offs finale, the Tour Championship, which is exclusive to the top-30 players.

Im ended seventh while An, with five top-10 and 12 top-25 placings on the PGA Tour, enjoyed his career-best season by finishing tied-21st in Atlanta.

Kim Si-woo and Tom Kim ended the season in 32nd and 51st positions respectively on the FedExCup standings and were also members of the International Team at the Presidents Cup which saw them deliver several memorable moments against the United States at Royal Montreal.