Golf
TIGER SAYS MATSUYAMA’S MASTERS WIN WILL HAVE GLOBAL IMPACT ON GOLF
A new golf era has dawned in the Land of the Rising Sun thanks to Hideki Matsuyama’s victory Sunday (April 11) at the Masters, the first major triumph by a Japanese man.
And global golf icon Tiger Woods says Matsuyama’s one-stroke win over American Will Zalatoris for the Green Jacket will resonate worldwide.
“Making Japan proud Hideki,” Woods tweeted. “Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment for you and your country. This historical @TheMasters win will impact the entire golf world.”
Matsuyama hopes his success will inspire legions of Japanese golfers to follow his example and launch careers in the sport, much the way “Tigermania” sparked greater interest after Woods won the 1997 Masters.
“I hope it will affect golf in a good way, not only those who are golfers already but the youngsters who are inclined to play golf,” Matsuyama said through a translator.
“I hope they will see this victory and think it’s cool and try and follow in my footsteps.
“Maybe a lot of younger golfers thought, ‘That’s an impossibility,’ but with me doing it they will realise it is possible and if they set their minds to it they can do it.”
Australia’s Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion and the only man from his homeland to win the Masters, says the new champion can expect his own “Matsu-mania” in Japan.
“He’s a bit like a Tiger Woods to the rest of the world, Hideki in Japan,” Scott said. “He has got such a big following every week, no matter how he plays anyway.
“I think he’d become the superstar of Japan if he isn’t already. I don’t think he really feels the weight of expectation like we all kind of can see what it would mean for Japan and golf over there.”
A huge media contingent follows Matsuyama, noted three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo.
“It’s a fanatical nation for golf. Golf is on the national news,” Faldo said. “The weight he’s carrying… the intensity is 10 times more than a regular tournament.”
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, sees only good things for golf-loving Japan and its unprecedented champion.
“I think it’s time for someone that side (of the world) winning a major and it’ll be great for Hideki and for his country,” Oosthuizen said. “The Japanese people are great people, and they love their golf. I think it’ll be a great thing for his country.”
South Africa’s Ernie Els, a two-time US Open and two-time British Open champion, told Golf Channel his win would be “a cherry on the cake for the whole nation – really unbelievable. It would be incredible. Golf in Japan is such a huge sport.”
Mexico’s Abraham Ancer made the Tiger comparison when he saw how Matsuyama was treated in Japan.
“When I was there for the Zozo, the people watching him and Tiger. It was like a major,” Ancer said. “So for him to get this W, it’s huge for Japan.
“I had no idea how big the following was of golf down there, and it was amazing. It will mean the world I’m sure for all the Japanese people for him to win.”
-AFP
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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