Hideki Matsuyama is finally recovering from his losses last week!
After bagging the bronze medal for Japan at the Paris Olympics earlier this month, he decided to spend a night in London with his caddie Shota Hayafuji,
and coach Mikihito Kuromiya. While they were out to dinner downtown, the three of them were robbed.
While Matsuyama had only lost his wallet, the robber had taken the latter two’s bags, which contained their wallets.
They had to return to Japan to replace their passports, without which they could not accompany the Japanese pro.
This is where he took the temporary help of Ryo Hisatsune’s caddie, Taiga Tabuchi.
Taiga Tabuchi caddied for Hideki Matsuyama
This was probably the worst possible time for the back-to-back losses Matsuyama had to suffer, as it happened just a few days ahead of the FedEx Playoffs. However, thanks to his fellow Japanese pro-Ryo Hisatsune’s former looper, Taiga Tabuchi has been carrying his bag at the TPC Southwind this weekend. It looks like the partnership has been working pretty well for Matsuyama.
In the first round, he carded a 5-under 65 and finished tied for the second position, one stroke behind Chris Kirk, the former leader. However, he upped his game even more and scored an impressive 6-under 64 to take hold of the first position, tied with Denny McCarthy. They are both one stroke ahead of Sam Burns.
Unfortunately, Ryo Hisatsune ended up missing the cut at the D+D Real Czech Masters on Friday. Regarding this, a Golf X account called Nosferatu took to their wall and posted, “Hideki Matsuyama is using Ryo Hisatsune’s caddy (Taiga Tabuchi) in Memphis this week. Subsequently, Hideki leads the #FedExCup playoff, while Ryo misses the cut at the #CzechMasters.”
The question that they posed was rather genuine. They asked, “Who should feel more robbed?” Although Matsuyama lost his wallet, coach, and caddie altogether, he did not lose his game, but in trying to help out, Hisatsune lost his game! However, this is not the end of Matsuyama’s worries. The last three weeks are some of the most important in the PGA Tour season, and not having the most important member by his side, might affect him in the game, if not now, then later.
Hideki Matsuyama’s coach might not return for the season at all
Although his caddie Shota Hayafuji could not make it to the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Hideki Matsuyama is certain that the embassy will expedite the process, and he will soon be able to make it to the USA. He might even return before the BMW Championship. However, in all likelihood, his coach will not be able to make it.
“Shota will make it, I think, but my coach probably won’t,” said Matsuyama. Without his coach’s assistance, grabbing a win at the Tour Championship might face significant obstacles. Nonetheless, the 32-year-old pro continues taking lessons from his coach online every night. This too has been helping him a lot. Although he has put the incident behind him to focus on the championship, he still hopes that his coach also gets hold of the required documents for the U.S. Otherwise, he will have to do the best he can!
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Source: USA Today
