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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 2, 2012Hideki MatsuyamaAUGUSTA, GEORGIA CLAUDE NIELSEN: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a real pleasure to welcome back Hideki Matsuyama to the Masters Tournament. This is his second tournament. As you will recall, last year he became the first Asian player to win the Silver Cup for low amateur and he finished the tournament tied for 27th. Last fall he again competed in the Asian Amateur and repeated as champion in Singapore, earning him a return trip to Augusta National and to the Masters. Hideki, welcome back, and maybe before we take questions, if you would like to comment about what it's like to be back for your second Masters Tournament. HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I'm so glad to be here after earning low amateur last year, and it's kind of unbelievable, but I'm so glad to be back here again. Q. Just curious how different it is, second time coming back, obviously been here before, but what does it feel like to come back relative to what it was like last year? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: It's not much. Q. Tell me a little bit about your golf game now a year later. You've won in Japan and you've won two Asian Amateurs. Has your game progressed? How long will you be in school and how much longer might that be? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I haven't really thought about being a professional, but the only thing I'm thinking about right now is to do really well this year so that I can come back next year. Q. Have you been talking to Ryo Ishikawa about his experiences of playing in the Masters and the United States? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I heard some from him, especially like pin positions and so forth. Since this is my second time, it's good to hear some advice from him. Q. Last year, of course, when you came, there had just been the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and affected your university and school; how is it a year later? I think you are doing some work on relief where your school is. What are things like a year later, both in that town and the school? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Although it's been a year, you can still see the devastation. So what I would like to do is do my best and play well so that I can encourage them through my play. Q. How did you come to the game of golf? How did you get started, and what do you like about the game? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: My father taught me, and that's how I started playing golf. Q. How many more years in college do you have left? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Two years. Q. And the schedule is different. As I remember from last year, college starts‑‑ it's about to start. HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: April. After this tournament, it will start. Q. I saw you skipping in the water on the 16th, and can you just tell me how you feel about a practice round at Augusta. HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I'm nervous on the practice round, too. Q. Why are you nervous? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Well, I don't know, but I'm just nervous (smiling). Q. I noticed yesterday watching you play with Ishikawa, it looks like it's the same golf bag that you had last year. Is it the same bag? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: The golf bag? I'm using my school's golf bag. Q. Is there anything that you didn't get to do last year during the Masters week that you would like to do this year? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I think I'm just going to practice more. Q. I understand that you went to Australia to train like you did last year; do you have any different feeling about going through the training process? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: The reason I did the same schedule is that although I ended up staying, it's different, playing in a different location, feeling different in a different location. But at the same time, I did really well last year as I did train in Australia and just came here. So I wanted to do the same thing because I had the good result last year. Q. What courses did you train on? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Royal Pines in Australia. Q. How did the experience last year of playing well, making the cut, help you in the events that you played subsequent to that, the Asian Amateur and the other events you played in Japan? HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: When I was playing the Asian Amateur, especially, I had a strong feeling of wanting to come back here. So from the first day of the Asian Amateur Championship, I was very focused on the game. CLAUDE NIELSEN: Hideki, good luck. Thank you for being with us today and welcome back. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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