Asian Am winner
Hideki Matsuyama
Sunice Pullovers
So Nice ( 5)
Ticket
Punched.
Greg Norman
Q&A ( 6-7)
Simson’s
Spectacular
Summer ( 27)
The hottest player in the world, at the
moment, is Martin Kaymer. Of this there
can be no argument. Thanks to victories
at the PGA Championship, the KLM Open
and, most recently, the Alfred Dunhill Links
Championship, the surging German now
has won in his past three starts.
Actually, Kaymer corrected, “Four.”
Ouch in America. Apparently, Kaymer
counts Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph last week
over the Yanks on his résumé. Kaymer has
also hurtled his way to world No. 4 and into
a commanding lead in The Race To Dubai.
Nevertheless ... of this there can be no
argument either:
The happiest player in the world right
now is Hideki Matsuyama.
Matsuyama is a quiet, slender, 18-year-
old who, prior to Sunday, was a relative un-
known in Japan compared to wildly-popular
countryman (countryteen?) Ryo Ishikawa.
But right now Matsuyama owns some-
thing Ishikawa doesn’t yet: an invitation to
the 2011 Masters.
That’s because Matsuyama broke par
four straight days at the Asian Amateur to
win the championship by five shots. And it
is because the Lords of Augusta National,
in their continuing efforts at global golf
outreach, promise the Asian Am winner a
much-coveted bid.
The Masters remains the toughest ticket
inside and outside the ropes in all of golf.
And the people who run it deserve kudos
for crossing a bunch of time zones and the
International Dateline in search of a repre-
sentative field. For his part, Ishikawa still
hasn’t qualified.
