Tokyo, Japan: Hideki Matsuyama’s achievement in becoming the first Japanese male to win a Major championship will be formally acknowledged by the country’s Prime Minister.

In recognition of his historic Masters triumph, 29-year-old Matsuyama is being presented with the Prime Minister’s Award today.

Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, will be the 34th individual recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award.

In total, the award has been granted to 49 individuals and groups, including the project team of the Hayabusa2 unmanned asteroid probe of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which won the recognition in 2020, and Takuma Sato, who became the first Japanese driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in 2017.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato noted that Matsuyama first participated in the Masters in 2011, held right after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. At that time, Matsuyama was a student at Sendai’s Tohoku Fukushi University, one of the hardest-hit prefectures in northeastern Japan.

In winning low-amateur honours on that occasion, Matsuyama ‘gave the people great courage with his victory’.

Following Matsuyama’s triumph at Augusta National three weeks ago, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said: “Amid the prolonged coronavirus crisis, he gave courage to and touched the hearts of everyone across Japan.”

The only other Japanese golfer to receive the Prime Minister’s Award was Ayako Okamoto in 1987, the year in which she won four times on the LPGA Tour and posted top-five finishes in all the Major championships.