The PGA Tour visits Japan for the Baycurrent Classic, as some of the best players on the planet put the country at the epicenter of the golfing world.
The Baycurrent Classic is a popular stop for players on the PGA Tour. Xander Schauffele was among the players to praise the Japanese fans and the quality of the courses at the event. It’s also a chance for the next generation of Japanese talent to introduce themselves on the global stage.
Golf has a long and storied history in Japan. Japanese golfers have made their mark both domestically and internationally over the past decades, some winning major championships in America and others dominating the Japanese Tour.
Here are five of the best and most influential Japanese players of all time, ranked.
5. Hinako Shibuno
Winning the 2019 British Open Championship, Hinako Shibuno became the first Japanese player, male or female, to win a major championship in over 40 years. It was her debut at the event, and she finished 18 under par to secure a one-stroke victory with a long clutch putt on the 18th.
Nicknamed the “Smiling Cinderella”, Shibuno also came close to a major victory at the 2024 US Open, where she finished second to narrowly miss out on the title.
Shibuno was the LPGA of Japan Tour Player of the Year in 2019, and has nine career victories on the tour. She rose to 11th in the world rankings that year.
Her British Open win solidified her status as one of Japan’s best golfers, and Shibuno remains a promising talent on the LPGA Tour.
4. Masashi Ozaki
Masashi Ozaki had 114 professional wins in his career and reached the top five in the world rankings, but he never finished higher than sixth in a major championship.
He was a star player for the Nishitetsu Lions, a Japanese baseball team, before turning to professional golf in 1970. He went on to become the all-time leader in wins on the Japanese Tour with 94.
Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, Ozaki was a golfing superstar in Japan. And his play in his home country saw him rise to fifth in the world golf rankings in 1996.
He could never recapture that form in the States, however. His best finish at a major championship was sixth at the 1989 US Open, and he never recorded a top-three on the PGA Tour.
Despite that, his record in Japan makes him one of the all-time greats in his home country.
3. Ai Miyazato
Ai Miyazato was the world number one in women’s golf in 2010, and a multiple-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
She won five tournaments as a rookie on the JLPGA Tour, bursting onto the scene in 2004. She went on to win 15 times on the junior tour.
Miyazato is a nine-time winner on the LPGA Tour, helping her to become the first-ever Japanese woman to become world number one. Her victories included two wins at the Evian Masters in 2009 and 2011.
She has three top-three finishes at major championships and remains a respected ambassador for golf in Japan since retiring in 2017.
2. Isao Aoki
In 1983, Isao Aoki became the first-ever Japanese player to win on the PGA Tour, taking victory at the Hawaiian Open. That year, he also won the Panasonic European Open on the European Tour, setting up a long and successful career which earned him a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
With 51 victories, Aoki ranks second all-time in wins on the Japan Golf Tour. He was the money list winner on the Japanese Tour five times in six years.
Aoki went head-to-head with Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 US Open, taking his best-ever major championship finish. He finished second behind the legendary Nicklaus, two strokes back.
He also has top-10 finishes at The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. In 1980, he shot a 63 in the third round at The Open, one of the lowest rounds in the tournament’s history at the time.
Aoki has been a pioneering figure as the first Japanese PGA Tour winner, and remains a significant influence on Japanese golf.
1. Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters in 2021 to become the first male Japanese golfer to win a major championship. In doing so, he became a legend of Japanese sport.
During Matsuyama’s amateur career, he won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship back-to-back in 2010 and 2011, earning him an invitation to The Masters as an amateur. In 2011, he was the low amateur at Augusta National.
He then turned pro in 2013 and quickly impressed in Japan. He took multiple victories on the Japan Golf Tour in 2013 and led the money list as a rookie.
Matsuyama won his first PGA Tour event at the 2014 Memorial Tournament via a playoff over Kevin Na. Since then, he’s won 11 times on the PGA Tour, most recently in 2025, when he won The Sentry in Hawaii. At the Sentry, Matsuyama set a PGA Tour record for 72-hole scoring, finishing 35-under.
He has also represented his country twice at the Olympic Games in 2020 and 2024, winning bronze in 2024, and has top 10 finishes at each of the four major championships.
Matsuyama’s Masters win established him as a trailblazer for Japanese and Asian players in major championships, making him one of Japan’s greatest ever players.
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