Japanese Hideki Matsuyama wants to follow Ryo Ishikawa at the Masters
The 20-year-old Hideki Matsuyama desires to follow the Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa, who is heading to play the Masters, scheduled to start from April 5 to 8, 2012.
Matsuyama is a Japanese amateur golf player. He idealises Ishikawa and wants to copy his attractive strokes, brining added excitement to the first major of the year.
Ishikawa is currently standing at the 53rd place in the world rankings. He found a spot in the field of the Master by getting an exceptional invitation from the tournament officials.
The 20-year-old Japanese professional golf player also played the Masters in 2011. He was amazing at Augusta and finished tied for the 20th position.
Since turning professional in 2008, Ishikawa has won ten professional events and among them, nine were on the Japan Golf Tour.
The 2009 Japan Golf Tour leading money winner is happy and excited to be in the field of the mega event. Similarly, excitement for Matsuyama is also on top.
Matsuyama is a four-time amateur tournament winner and has played many times with Ishikawa. Now, Matsuyama wants to learn from and follow Ishikawa, while playing at the Augusta National Golf Club, Georgia.
“I heard some things from him, especially like pin positions and so forth. Since this is just my second time, it's good to hear some advice from him,” Matsuyama said.
“I'm so glad to be here after earning the low amateur last year and it's kind of unbelievable”.
He added, “I haven't really thought about being a professional, but the only thing I'm thinking about right now is to do really well this year so that I can come back next year”.
Previously, Ishikawa was ranked below 50. He was aiming and hoping to be at the Masters. Soon, he achieved an exceptional invitation and is now happy to be in the field.
"Long term, yes, it's my dream to be playing the majority of events over here," Ishikawa said recently.
The field is tough and all the world top-ranked players are heading for the $8,000,000 event. Another attraction is $1,440,000 prize money and 600 additional FedEx Cup points.
Ishikawa will be facing tough competition because the field is fearsome, containing strong players like Tiger Woods, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
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