Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama has slipped outside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for the first time since June 2013.
In 2021, Matsuyama became the first male Japanese golfer to win one of the four Majors, pulling on the Green Jacket at Augusta National before claiming the Zozo Championship in his homeland later that year.
🚨NEWSFLASHAlarm bells for Hideki! Hideki Matsuyama will drop out of the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time ever! He broke into the top 50 in June 2013 and never dropped out since. Until now... #SonyOpen #OWGR 📉January 15, 2024
In January 2022, he won his eighth PGA Tour title with victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
However, last season was a frustrating one for the 31-year-old, his campaign coming to a premature end at the BMW Championship in August when he was forced to withdraw with a back injury.
As a result, Matsuyama did not advance to the Tour Championship, which would have been his tenth successive year in the season finale.
With just two top-10 finishes last season, Matsuyama has seen his world ranking start to head in the wrong direction.
The Japan star entered the world’s top 10 in October 2016 and reached a high of number two the following year.
Despite falling outside the world’s top 10 in 2018, his world ranking has remained fairly consistent over the last couple of seasons.
However, since picking up a back injury in August, Matsuyama’s ranking has tumbled, and now, at 52 in the OWGR, he’s ranked at his lowest position for more than 10 years.
Matsuyama’s world ranking probably won’t be too much of a concern just yet, for, as a past champion, he’s guaranteed his spot at the 2024 Masters in April.
However, the two-time World Golf Championship winner will keen to arrest the slide in the next couple of months in order to secure invitations to golf’s biggest tournaments.
Matsuyama has started slowly this year, finishing last but one in the The Sentry, before ending up mid division (T30) at last week’s Sony Open.
