PGA Tour must hold on to Hideki Matsuyama amidst LIV rumours - Here is why...
Although a meeting was held between a number of PGA Tour stars, there seems to be some uncertainty surrounding a number of players who are yet to pick the Tour or LIV Golf.
Hideki Matsuyama is one of the biggest stars on the international golf scene. Away from the American dominance of the world rankings, he has been a constant representing Japan since he turned professional in 2013.
He was an outstanding amateur golfer, winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in back-to-back years and also winning on the Japan Golf Tour before he turned pro.
Fast-forward almost 10 years and he has won eight times on the PGA Tour including the ZOZO Championship earlier this season, securing victory in front of his home crowd.
In 2021, he became the first Japanese man to win a major at The Masters. During his career, he has become a senior figure on the Japanese golf front and an example to all players from this nation looking to follow in his footsteps.
Keita Nakajima and Takumi Kanaya are current examples of those who have been influenced by Matsuyama's career. They are both winners of the Asia-Pacific Amateur too and back in April, they competed alongside Matsuyama at The Masters.
Since the Japanese golf team finished fourth in a world championship event in 2006, Aijiro Uchida, senior manager and high-performance development director of the Japan Golf Association, said this was a turning point in the way golf in Japan would be progressed and analysed.
"In 2014, when the world championship took place in Japan, I saw firsthand teams that employed that kind of system perform very well and realised if we didn’t change what we were doing, we would never be able to do better than fourth," Uchida said.
The JGA brought in Australian Gareth Jones to help the national team, combining his own sporting philosophy with the Japanese culture of sports science. He changed how Japanese golfers prepared for events and instilled efficiency in the way they practised.
One obstacle that faced junior golfers in Japan was their lack of access to golf courses and forced use of the driving range. But according to the PGA Tour, as of 2021, there are now 2,151 golf courses in Japan and roughly 4,000 practice facilities.
Jones has previously spoken about the importance of Matsuyama's role in inspiring a new generation of golfers in this region.
"What they've learned, they can then pass that onto future generations, and Hideki has been a massive influence over all of these players. It's a cultural thing, but it's also a responsibility, and that's the great thing, the players take that responsibility seriously," Jones said.
Why is all of this relevant? Well, Matsuyama is a product of a shift in approach to youth golf development in Japan. He is a success story and a role model for the top Asian amateurs coming through to the professional sphere.
The PGA Tour hasn't seen such a player from Japan before, hence their lack of success in major championships. The 30-year-old has become part of the furniture and one of the most consistent players in golf, reaching second in the world rankings at one stage.
However, it is his international significance that makes him so attractive to Greg Norman. This is why he has reportedly been offered $400 million to join the LIV Golf Tour.
LIV Golf could gain access to a nation which is now inspired by successful golfers. It could open their horizons to even more sponsorships, broadcast deals and a larger audience.
Matsuyama could deliver this. However, since his multi-million link to the Saudi-backed series which has been heavily accused of sportswashing, the rumours have cooled.
According to the No Laying Up podcast, Matsuyama is back onside with the PGA Tour despite not attending a meeting last week which saw the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas discuss the future of the Tour.
Matsuyama wasn't at this meeting which would stimulate some speculation over his future, but this speculation should be ignored according to different sources.
The popular podcast also believes that Joaquin Niemann, who was once tipped to join the breakaway series, is now staying put as well as likely Rookie of the Year Cameron Young.
You could say LIV has got more to offer Matsuyama than the Tour does. Despite being able to play in the ZOZO in Narashino once a year, LIV could allow him to bond with his home nation as the league plans to expand to 14 events next season. They will also give him hundreds of millions of dollars.
We should therefore point out that keeping hold of Matsuyama would purely be a move to stunt the growth of LIV Golf from the Tour, to spite them rather than to significantly enhance their own position.
Matsuyama is a product of the transformation in youth golf development in Japan, the transformation that the likes of Uchida and Jones foresaw.
As the LIV Golf Series, which recently held its third event at the Bedminster Invitational, is associated with greed and a lack of competition, it would be bitterly disappointing to see Matsuyama ditch the Tour and start a new and uncertain chapter, having paved the way for so many stars from Japan.
