Hideki Matsuyama said he’s on the right track to be ready to defend his title in the Masters just over two weeks from now.
Matsuyama withdrew from The Players Championship less than 10 days ago with neck and shoulder injuries he suffered during the second round of the previous week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
He decided against playing in this week’s World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. He might play in next week’s Valero Texas Open.
“I’ve been receiving a lot of treatment,” Matsuyama said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “Really (Monday) was the first day that I’ve been able to have a good practice session. So the remainder of this week and next week, I’ll do my best to prepare well so I can defend my title at Augusta.
“My recovery is moving forward. Probably at 80 percent right now. Planning to practice hard this week and I’m intending to play in the Valero Texas Open as long as the pain keeps subsiding.
“I haven’t been able to practice as much as I’d like, but what I have been doing, I feel like I’m on the right track.”
Last year, Matsuyama shot 69-71-65-73 to win by one over Will Zalatoris and by three over 2015 champion Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele. It was his first major title and he became the first from Japan to win the Masters.
Matsuyama, 30, who has won eight PGA Tour titles and is ranked No. 12 in the world, was moved to tears as he walked up the hill from the 18th green to the clubhouse last Masters Sunday. The enormous weight of expectation and pressure to win for himself and a proud sporting nation had been lifted.
“Those tears, it wasn’t because I won. Walking up after the 18th green, I saw all my team, and they were all crying, and I think that’s probably what started me crying, too,” Matsuyama said. “But it was really cool to be able to share that with my team. The feeling of, we finally did it.
“That was the reason why those tears were falling down all of our cheeks.”
There have been many reasons to tear up ever since.
“It’s been a great blessing to become the Masters champion and to have so many people send me their best wishes and encouragement,” he said. “It’s been great to go to the various tournaments and to be introduced as the Masters champion and have the gallery warmly receive me and call my name.
“Being the first Japanese to win a major, and especially the Masters, has made me really happy. How it’s changed my life is a good question. I haven’t really figured that out yet. I know I’m a happier person. I’ve also noticed people have received me differently. It’s been a wonderful experience. If that’s changed my life, I don’t know. But that’s really the one impression that I’ve had this past year is how warm people have embraced me and received me and cheered me on.”
He hopes to hear the cheers this year at Augusta National. This season, he has won the Zozo Championship in Japan and the Sony Open in Hawaii. He also finished in a tie for eighth in the WM Phoenix Open. He did finish in a tie for 20th in the Arnold Palmer Invitational despite his injuries.
“Hopefully I can find that same form that I started the year out with,” Matsuyama said. “Going to the Masters is something very special for me and something I’ve really been looking forward to, so I’m going to do my very best to be as prepared as I can to defend my title there.”
And he’ll do his very best to prepare for the Champions Dinner.
“I don’t speak English very well, and so it’s kind of a two-sided coin,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it, of course, to be with all those great past Masters champions, but at the same time, too, very nervous about the speech I will be giving.”
[listicle id=778253690]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]