- Final round of 73 enough to secure Green Jacket
- Matsuyama becomes first Japanese male major winner
One can only assume Hideki Matsuyama did not feel the heavy burden of history at all. There is no other reasonable explanation for the manner in which the 29-year-old won the 85th edition of the Masters. Matsuyama has become the first Asian player to don a Green Jacket and the only Japanese male to win a major.
His is a victory that will reverberate far beyond this exclusive corner of Georgia. Positive impacts for golf as a whole, it can only be hoped, will follow. A nation that has long since developed an affinity with this sport belatedly has its idol. The Green Jackets, who regard themselves as progressives these days, will be giddy with excitement at the expansion of their roll of honour into fresh territory. A global game needs global stars, after all.
