The latest are 29-year-old Hideki Matsuyama, who won the men's golf major overseas tournament "Masters Tournament" for the first time as a Japanese player, and 25-year-old Rikuya Hoshino, who has won two wins on the Japan Tour. Two people have been nominated as representatives after winning the right to participate in the Tokyo Olympics in the world ranking of.
The Japan national team for men's golf at the Tokyo Games will be selected based on the latest world rankings calculated based on the points earned in the games played in the past two years.
In the latest world ranking announced on the 21st, Matsuyama was the top Japanese player in 16th place, Hoshino was in 2nd place in 76th place, and two people got the right to participate, both of which were decided to be the first Olympic representatives. did.
Matsuyama, who is active on the US tour, achieved the feat of conquering overseas majors for the first time as a Japanese male player at the Masters Tournament in April.
At the Tokyo tournament, he is eager to aim for a gold medal.
In addition, Hoshino has a strong driver shot from his tall body, and has won two wins in the domestic tour, and is at the top of the prize ranking this season.
The Japan Golf Association will wait for the notification of the acquisition of the right to participate from the International Golf Federation, and will take the procedure to recommend two people to the JOC = Japanese Olympic Committee as representatives.
What is Hideki Matsuyama?
Hideki Matsuyama is 29 years old from Ehime prefecture.
Armed with powerful and accurate iron shots, he continues to play an active role as a top Japanese player on the American tour as the main battlefield.
At the overseas major tournament "Masters Tournament" held in April this year, we achieved the historic achievement of winning the first overseas major as a Japanese male player.
So far, he has won a total of 8 wins on domestic tours and 6 wins in total as a Japanese male player on the US tour.
In 2011, when I was 19 years old in the second year of Tohoku Fukushi University, I won a domestic tour tournament as an amateur, and in April 2013 I turned professional while attending college.
This year, he won four domestic tours and became the first newcomer to win the prize, and since 2014 he has been participating in the American tour in earnest.
In the latest world ranking, he was ranked 16th, the highest among Japanese athletes, and was nominated as a representative after winning the right to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
Although he declined to participate in the previous Rio de Janeiro Games, he expressed his willingness to participate in the Tokyo Games, saying, "Aiming for a gold medal."
What is Rikuya Hoshino?
Rikuya Hoshino is 25 years old from Ibaraki prefecture.
With a dynamic driver shot of over 300 yards from a height of 1 meter and 86 centimeters, it is known as one of the best “flyers” on the Japan tour.
He dropped out of college in 2016 and made his professional debut, and in 2018 he won his first tour victory and won the Best Newcomer Award.
In this season's domestic tour, in addition to his own driver, his approach and putt are also strong, and he is at the top of the prize money ranking, and he has already won two wins in this season.
My goal is to play on overseas tours in the future, and for the first time in this year's US Open Championship, I broke through the qualifying in overseas majors and finished in 26th place.
In the competition for the Tokyo Olympics, he won the battle with Takumi Kanaya and entered the 76th place in the latest world ranking.