Former World No.2 Hideki Matsuyama has enjoyed some huge victories in his career so far, including the Memorial Tournament, two World Golf Championship events and two Waste Management Phoenix Opens. Of course, his biggest arrived at the 2021 Masters tournament. But who carries his bag currently? Let's take a look.
Who Is Hideki Matsuyama's Caddie?
Matsuyama has had the same caddie for the past few years. He is called Shota Hayafuji and looks to be quite the player himself as he has a profile on the China Tour.
Hayafuji - who was born in 1993 - seems to have stopped playing professionally in 2018, despite only turning pro in 2016, but did manage a hole-in-one during his time on tour. On his China Tour bio, Matsuyama's caddie says he began to play golf in Tokyo when he was 12 and that he thinks golf is "an exciting sport."
Before moving into caddying for Matsuyama, Hayafuji said his boss was his favorite player on the PGA Tour and initially harbored dreams of following him over to the US-based circuit.
It is not known how the pair know each other exactly, but they now appear to be very good friends - as shown by Hayafuji's Instagram where he documents their travels around the golfing world.
Hideki Matsuyama's caddie, Shota Hayafuji, removing his hat and bowing his head after returning the pin. Quite an image. pic.twitter.com/chUVA9XRTFApril 11, 2021
Hayafuji also shot to acclaim around the world after the 2021 Masters, when he bowed to the course on the 18th hole. He and Matsuyama had just completed a one-stroke victory and the gesture was widely admired.
At the start of his golfing journey as a quality amateur and then professional, Matsuyama had someone called Taisho Okabe on the bag. They worked together at the 2011 Masters where Matsuyama finished in a tie for 27th place and was the low amateur.
It is unclear when exactly that partnership ended, but Matsuyama later turned up to the 2012 Masters with a caddie named Katsuya Kobayashi.
Again, this was clearly a temporary partnership as the Japanese pro then worked with caddie Daisuke Shindo for a while. Their working relationship lasted for a number of years and they had some good success together, including the first five of his PGA Tour victories.
It appears the pair stopped working together at the beginning of the 2019 calendar year with Hayafuji first coming onto the bag at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Matsuyama and Hayafuji have been largely inseparable ever since, apart from during the 2024 FedEx Cup Playoffs when - just days before the opening tournament - Matsuyama, Hayafuji, and the golfer's coach were robbed in a London restaurant.
The 2021 Masters champion had his wallet taken while his coach, Mikihito Kuromiya and caddie saw their passports stolen. The latter pair were then forced to return to Japan to source new identification, and Matsuyama asked Ryo Hisatsune's looper, Taiga Tabuchi to accompany him at the FedEx St Jude Championship and the BMW Championship.
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Hayafuji is expected to return to Matsuyama's bag ahead of the Tour Championship, but the 32-year-old admitted to Golf Digest Japan that: "There's a chance they'll make it [back in time], but we have to go into [the FedEx Cup Playoffs] thinking it's close to zero."
