Golf
HISTORY MAKER MATSUYAMA OF JAPAN WINS MASTERS FOR MAIDEN MAJOR VICTORY
Hideki Matsuyama overcame a potentially ruinous moment to become the first Japanese man to win a major championship with a one-shot Masters victory over Will Zalatoris at Augusta National on Sunday (April 11).
Matsuyama, who started the day with a four-shot lead over a quartet that included playing competitor Xander Schauffele and Masters debutant Zalatoris, carded a one-over-par 73 that left him at 11 under on the week at the year’s first major.
“I am really happy. My nerves really didn’t start on the back nine, it was right from the start and right until the very last putt,” Matsuyama said.
“I was thinking about them [friends and family] all the way around. I am really happy I played well for them. Hopefully I will be a pioneer and many other Japanese players will follow and I am glad to open the floodgates.”
The 29-year-old Japanese was seemingly in control until a bogey at the par-five 15th, where his approach shot went in the water behind the green, compounded with a birdie from Schauffele turned his four-stroke cushion into a two-shot lead.
But world No. 6 Schauffele put his tee shot at the par-three 16th into the water and made triple-bogey to fall out of contention. He finished three shots back of Matsuyama and in a share of third with former champion Jordan Spieth (70).
“I was thinking about them [friends and family] all the way around. I am really happy I played well for them. Hopefully I will be a pioneer and many other Japanese players will follow and I am glad to open the floodgates.”
The 29-year-old Japanese was seemingly in control until a bogey at the par-five 15th, where his approach shot went in the water behind the green, compounded with a birdie from Schauffele turned his four-stroke cushion into a two-shot lead.
But world No. 6 Schauffele put his tee shot at the par-three 16th into the water and made triple-bogey to fall out of contention. He finished three shots back of Matsuyama and in a share of third with former champion Jordan Spieth (70).
“I was coming in hot, I was feeling good,” said Schauffele, who made four consecutive birdies starting at the par-three 12th. “Hideki surprisingly went for the green on 15 so I felt like he gave me a little bit of hope there and maybe (I was) a little hyper-aggressive there on 16.”
Matsuyama bogeyed the 16th which left him with a two-shot lead over Zalatoris (70), who was already in the clubhouse at nine under on the week, and went on to close the deal with a par-bogey finish.
The victory by Matsuyama came in his 33rd major championship appearance and ended Zalatoris’s impressive bid to become the first Masters debutant to win a Green Jacket since Fuzzy Zoeller accomplished the feat in 1979.
Speaking to reporters on Monday morning in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called Matsuyama’s historic win “wonderful” and a source of pride and courage for the Japanese people during the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He’s also a graduate of a university in Tohoku,” Suga said, referring to the northeastern region of Japan devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami 10 years ago. “(His win) has also provided a big boost to the recovery from the disasters.”
Matsuyama had made a shaky start with a bogey at the first hole that cut his lead to one stroke but made three birdies before the turn, including at both par-fives, to restore control.
He bogeyed the 12th where he failed to get up and down from a back bunker but tapped in for birdie at the par-five 13th and was looking set for a comfortable finish.
But Matsuyama said he never allowed himself to think the Green Jacket was his until his tee shot at the par-four 18th final hole found the fairway.
“My nerves really didn’t start on the second nine,” said Matsuyama. “It was right from the start today and right to the very last putt.”
World No. 3 Jon Rahm, whose wife gave birth to their first child last weekend, carded the day’s low round, a six-under-par 66, vaulting him into a share of fifth place.
“I am really happy. My nerves really didn’t start on the back nine, it was right from the start and right until the very last putt,” he said.
“I was thinking about them [friends and family] all the way around. I am really happy I played well for them. Hopefully I will be a pioneer and many other Japanese players will follow and I am glad to open the floodgates.”
-Reuters
In the same year the FIFA World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a Thai golfer named after world soccer’s governing body will make his major championship debut at the Masters.
Fifa Laopakdee’s father, a devoted soccer fan, named his son after FIFA when he was born and that name will be on the tee sheet when the year’s first major gets underway this week at Augusta National.
“My dad is a huge soccer fan, and he was choosing between Fifa from FIFA World Cup and Uefa from UEFA Champions League,” Laopakdee said Monday. “So luckily it ends up with at Fifa.”
Laopakdee earned his Masters invitation by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai last October, becoming the first Thai player to claim the title.
He entered the final round six strokes off the lead, birdied the 17th and 18th holes to force a playoff, then birdied all three playoff holes to win — securing spots in this year’s Masters and British Open.
Laopakdee arrived at Augusta National this week as the first amateur representing Thailand to compete in the Masters, and was greeted by a locker in the club’s new Player Services Building wedged between those of five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods and two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau.
“To be walking into the locker room today, and my locker is between Tiger and Bryson. That’s a lot to soak in,” he said. “I definitely took a picture of that.”
-Reuters
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Tiger Woods was surprised that he was being handcuffed after crashing his SUV last week in Florida, per body camera footage released Thursday.
“I’m being arrested?” Woods asked of Martin County Sheriff’s deputy Tatiana Levenar, who conducted a sobriety test on him.
“I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI,” Levenar told the 15-time major champion.
The footage also shows deputies removing two pills from Woods’ pocket.
“That’s a Norco,” Woods said after an officer removed the pills, which are a painkiller. Authorities later confirmed that Woods had hydrocodone.
Woods contends that he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his Land Rover clipped the back of a truck and rolled onto its side on Jupiter Island, Fla.
The bodycam footage also shows Woods informing a police officer that he was on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump shortly after his crash.
“Thank you so much. All right. You got it. Bye,” Woods said as he walked over to an officer who had beckoned him back to the crash scene, informing them that “I was just talking to the president.”
Woods is dating Vanessa Trump, the ex-wife of the President’s oldest child, Donald Trump Jr.
On Thursday night, President Trump announced during a Fox News interview that Woods would not be playing in this year’s Masters, something that Woods had not yet announced publicly.
When asked about Woods’ crash, Trump said Woods was a “very close friend, saying, “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. There was an accident, and that’s all I know. He’s an amazing person, amazing man, but some difficulty.”
Trump previously told Reuters that Woods seeking treatment was “a good thing” and he believed the golfer was “going to be terrific.”
The release of the bodycam footage comes one day after Woods was granted a request by a Florida judge to leave the United States to enter a comprehensive inpatient treatment facility as he faces misdemeanor driving under the influence charges.
Martin County Court Judge Darren Steele granted the motion to travel submitted by Woods’ attorney, Douglas Duncan, who cited the 50-year-old golf superstar’s need for an “intensive, highly individualized and medically integrated program” away from media and public scrutiny.
Woods released a public statement on Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty in a Florida court to charges of misdemeanor driving under the influence with property damage.
The arrest affidavit stated a breathalyzer test showed no signs of alcohol, but that Woods refused a urinalysis test for other drugs.
The affidavit stated Woods was “sweating profusely,” his movements were “lethargic and slow,” his eyes were “bloodshot and glassy,” his pupils were “extremely dilated” and that during the field sobriety exercises, Woods was “limping and stumbling to the right.”
-Reuters
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The inaugural edition of the Nigeria Maritime Golf Challenge will tee off on Thursday at the prestigious Ikoyi Club 1938 Golf Course, bringing together 81 golfers from across the country in celebration of World Maritime Day.
Organised by QUBES LLC, the one-day tournament is designed to commemorate the annual global observance on September 25 under the theme “Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity.”
Chief Executive Officer of QUBES LLC, Lanre Bayewu, told journalists ahead of the event that the competition aims to showcase Nigeria’s maritime industry through sport while fostering greater networking opportunities within the sector.
“The tournament structure accommodates golfers of various skill levels and ensures broad participation from both maritime industry professionals and the wider golfing community,” Bayewu said.
The championship will feature seven competitive categories, including Longest Drive, Nearest Pin (male and female), Female Winners, Veterans, General Category Winner Net, Maritime Category Winner, and Overall Best Gross. Winners will go home with trophies and cash prizes.
Top executives and senior management of Nigeria’s leading maritime agencies, including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, are expected to attend as special guests.
According to Bayewu, the event represents a strategic initiative to project the Nigerian maritime industry onto both global and sporting stages, while also strengthening professional relationships across the community.
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