Hideki Matsuyama

Hideki Matsuyama, 28, of Japan is one of the Asian golfers competing in the 2020 United States Open Championship. Including the Japanese golfer, 144 players will compete in the 120th edition of the annual open national championship of golf in the U.S.

Matsuyama was born in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan on February 25, 1992. He was only 4 years old when his father introduced him to golf.

In 2010, Matsuyama won the Asian Amateur Championship. He won the gold medal at the World University Games in 2011 and was ranked number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2012.

In 2013, Matsuyama turned professional and won the Tsuruya Open on the Japan Golf Tour. In 2017, he was runner-up to Brooks Koepka in the 117th U.S. Open, which took place at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin, USA from June 15-18, 2017.

Japan has yet to have a U.S. Open champion. The annual golf competition was established in 1895.

The 2020 U.S. Open will take place at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, USA from September 17–20, 2020. The last time the tournament was held there was in 2006 when Geoff Ogilvy, 43, of Australia won with a score of 5 over par.

Including Japan and the U.S., 27 countries from six continents are represented. The others are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile,  Colombia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and Thailand.

Due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the 144-player field consists entirely of exempt players. Professional golfers Daniel Chopra, 46, of Sweden and Anthony Kang, 47, of South Korea will co-host the golf tournament with former professional cricketer Jason de la Peña, 47, of England live on FOX Sports 2 from September 18-21, 2020.

Four of the 144 players are from Japan namely Matsuyama, Ryo Ishikawa, Shugo Imahira and Takumi Kanaya. A total of 67 golfers are from the U.S., some of which are of Japanese descent.

The U.S. Open champions in the past five years were from the U.S. Jordan Spieth, 27, and Dustin “DJ” Johnson, 36, won in 2015 and 2016, respectively, Brooks Koepka, 30, won in 2017 and in 2018 and Gary Woodland, 36, won in 2019.