Smylie Kaufman has claimed that one part of Hideki Matsuyama’s game manages to constantly blow him away, and may actually now be the best its ever been after the Japanese won bronze at the Olympic Games.
Hideki Matsuyama managed to win the Olympic medal which alluded him on home soil three years ago, with the 32-year-old finishing third at Le Golf National.
It was a brilliant week for Matsuyama, who led after the opening round in Paris. The 2021 Masters champion shot an eight under par 63 to go two shots clear of Xander Schauffele.
Unfortunately, a level par third round left Matsuyama three back of the leaders heading into the final day, and he was unable to match the stunning 62 from Scottie Scheffler which handed the American gold. But he was able to hold onto third place to ensure that he took a spot on the podium.
Smylie Kaufman amazed by one part of Hideki Matsuyama’s game
It is surely fair to say that Matsuyama does often tend to go under the radar. He is a major champion with nine wins on the PGA Tour. He is also in the top 10 for the FedEx Cup standings this season having finished in the top 10 on five occasions on tour. Of course, the highlight came when he won the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman suggested that this has been an important season in Matsuyama’s career, with one aspect of his game looking as good as it has ever been.
“Hideki this year, it’s been a bit of a resurgence I feel like, because I feel like maybe the prior couple of years I just didn’t feel like Hideki was the same guy. And this year, it was a wake-up call, you were able to turn the TV off with 45 minutes left of the Genesis broadcast because Hideki just put on an absolute clinic – so actually, let’s bookmark that in for four years when the Olympics is at Riviera, Hideki’s had some success there, winning at Genesis this year,” he said.
“But he’s had a year where he’s had six top 10s. I think from watching him over the last couple of years, I’m just constantly blown away at how good his short game is around the greens. His pitching, his bunker game, it is on another level, and it’s really been as good as it’s ever been in his career this year.”
What is perhaps forgotten about Olympic bronze medalist
The statistics definitely back up Kaufman’s point about Matsuyama’s game around the greens. It is remarkable just how good he is in that area.
In fact, Matsuyama is number one on the PGA Tour this year for strokes gained around the greens. That looks to be one of the key reasons why he is number four on tour for overall strokes gained.
It is probably overlooked just how young Matsuyama actually still is because he has been around so long, having won his first PGA Tour event back in 2014 – and that was The Memorial of all events. He is little more than a year older than the likes of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, so there is plenty of time for Matsuyama to improve further.
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