Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama has signed with IMG for worldwide management and marketing representation.
The No. 16 player on the Official World Golf Ranking, Matsuyama has six victories worldwide including five on the Japan Tour. The 22-year-old earned his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2014 Memorial Tournament, where he won in a playoff.
Before turning professional, Matsuyama won the Asian Amateur Championship in 2010 and 2011, each time earning a trip to Augusta National Golf Club to play the Masters Tournament. He earned low amateur honors at the Masters in 2011 and reached No. 1 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2012.
“I’m excited to join the IMG family,” Matsuyama said. “I believe that the global resources provided by IMG and WME will help me achieve my goal of winning a major. Hopefully one day, I will be worthy of being named in the same breath as the game’s greatest champions who built their careers with IMG.”
Matsuyama became the first rookie to win the Japan Tour money title in 2013. He joined the PGA TOUR the same year via special exemption after earning more than $770,000 in six starts, including two top 10 finishes in majors.
Guy Kinnings of IMG commented, “We are absolutely thrilled to begin working with Hideki across all aspects of his business. IMG has a long history of representing the best international players in the game and we look forward to working with our partners at WME to build Hideki’s brand globally.”
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