It was a shaky back nine for Hideki Matsuyama. The golfer entered Sunday with a 5-stroke lead, but 2 bogeys, 4 birdies, and a double bogey—the last of which came at the par-4, 15th—helped him maintain a 2-stroke lead. That was enough for him to clinch his 10th PGA Tour win. However, he didn’t do it alone. Interestingly, the Japanese athlete secured the win despite barely having a caddie he had spoken with before the event. Enter Taiga Tabuchi!

The golfer was spotted in an interview post-victory at the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship, mentioning the same. “Yeah, it was Taiga’s – first time I’ve worked with him,” admitted Matsuyama, alluding to the new looper he had on the bag at Memphis. He also added that they didn’t have much interaction with each other leading up to the event. The champ revealed, “In fact, I hadn’t really spoken to him very much prior to this week.”

But it’s not as if they had never interacted at all. “I knew he was caddying for Ryo on the TOUR earlier in the year,” added the 10-time PGA Tour champ, “So we did play some practice rounds together.” The bagman had been carrying the bags for fellow Japanese athlete Ryo Hisatsune for a while. Hisatsune, meanwhile, had found himself outside the top 70 in the FedEx Cup Standings ahead of the event in Memphis, causing him to miss the event.

The champion golfer and the bagman, however, didn’t let the challenge affect them. “On the course, you have a routine,” added Matsuyama, “but with a new caddie, that routine changes, and so we were working through that all week.” And the plan worked, as the champ himself acknowledged, “He was a great help to me. Helped me read a lot of putts. A lot of good lines that he gave me.”

Over the four days of play, Hideki Matsuyama was able to card a total of 24 birdies, 6 bogeys, 1 double bogey, and 1 eagle, with the help of Taiga Tabuchi. Consequently, he registered a score of 17-under overall, owing to his rounds of 65-64-64-70. Although employing a new caddie was a success, it wouldn’t have been necessary in the first place had the Japanese golfer’s regular looper been there.

Hideki Matsuyama’s actual caddie and the unforeseen difficulty

After clinching the bronze medal in the Paris Olympics, the 32-year-old Matsuyama flew to London for a stopover before traveling to Memphis. However, what awaited the athlete’s caddie, Shota Hayafuji, and his swing coach, Mikhito Kuromiya, was a tragic event, as the two were robbed of their visas and passports. Fortunately, Matsuyama only had his wallet stolen and still had his medal and passport.

Nevertheless, the unforeseen circumstances forced the two to return to Japan. The reason? The team members of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship winner had to request expedited documents to return to the golfer’s side. “There’s a chance they’ll make it [to Colorado], but we have to go into it thinking it’s close to zero,” divulged the champ in an interview.

However, the two will do all they can to accompany their star athlete, Hideki Matsuyama, on the greens at Castle Pines Golf Club for the BMW Championship!