Matsuyama, Ishikawa feel nation’s support
Who needs Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy when you have Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa?
You may not know the latter two — who will play the final round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open today at TPC Summerlin — but in Japan, they’re just as big as the first two names.
“People in Japan love golf, and they follow both Hideki and Ryo, just like over here we follow Tiger and Rory and Phil (Mickelson) and all the big-name players over here,” said Mark Stevens, spokesperson for the PGA Tour. “It’s a big deal over in Japan just like it is in the United States.”
So big that the biggest media crowd at one time the past few days has been for the Japanese duo, behind the official scoring trailer, where golfers go after completing their daily rounds to sign their scorecards.
On Saturday, after Matsuyama fired a third-round 3-under-par 68 and Ishikawa later shot a 67, they each needed about 20 minutes to talk with the Japanese media — two separate TV crews, then print and online journalists in one media scrum.
“It’s been busy the past few years, since Ryo Ishikawa came here, and that’s when the Japanese media got really busy,” said Yasuko Moore, who is working with Tokyo Broadcast Systems as a director during the tournament. “He’s an idol, a star, and not just a good player, he’s a good guy.
“When Hideki Matsuyama won his first-ever tournament last season, I got so emotional. I’m not his teammate or anything, but I got so emotional because I’ve been watching him, following him, every tournament, every day he plays, I’m there with him. So it gets personal, what he does, what Ryo Ishikawa does.
“And right now, we really, really want Ryo Ishikawa to win as soon as possible because we love him, we cheer him. Like somebody said, we’re like family … we’re emotionally attached somehow.”
That’s a far cry from American sports media, which is taught to be impartial and stay calm in the press box, on the sidelines or, in this case, the 18th green.
Worldwide, PGA Tour tournaments are broadcast to more than 1 billion households in 225 countries and territories in 32 languages. And while the Tour owns the rights to its tournaments, it has a longtime partnership with NHK and Jupiter Golf Network, allowing both to broadcast feeds via the Golf Channel.
Matsuyama and Ishikawa said they don’t mind the attention because they know and appreciate the fact there is an entire nation cheering them on, and for the most part, they feel the pressure of representing their country.
“I can feel the pressure, yes, but it’s great for the Japanese golf, because (the number of participants is) getting smaller and smaller,” Ishikawa said. “I just want to change it, to better and better Japanese golf. So it’s a good pressure.”
Said Matsuyama, through translator Bob Turner: “I can’t really control how many of the Japanese media come and cover our tournaments. It’s part of being a professional golfer. But I can say being from Japan and playing on the PGA Tour is something that is of interest to the Japanese media and Japanese golf fans.”
Matsuyama said when he’s not playing well he tends to feel added stress, but added that it comes with the territory. He said he tries to remain patient with his loyal media, to give them his time and answer their questions.
He and Ishikawa, who has been a pro since 2008, said they respect the fact that their media has a job to do, while media members try to conduct their interviews in a timely fashion.
“This is my routine, it’s been six years, this is my seventh year,” Ishikawa said. “In Japan, same thing, here same thing. And there’s thousands of people in Japan, everyone wants to watch the Golf Channel to see Hideki play and me play as well. So, golf is very popular sport in Japan, so that’s kind of like important thing, to interview for the media.”
Ishikawa, 11 shots off the lead at 6-under 207, tees off at 9:05 a.m. today. Matsuyama, nine back at 205, tees off at 10:53.
