Golfer Hideki Matsuyama has revealed the sad details of how he, his caddie and his coach were robbed after the London Olympics.
The 32-year-old Matsuyama won a bronze medal for Japan in Paris and then left for England for an overnight stay.
But the 2021 Masters champion was robbed of his belongings during the trip. After the FedEx St. Jude Championship, he said the incident occurred while he was at a restaurant.
He told reporters in Tennessee that he, his caddie Shota Hayato and coach Mikihito Kuromiya had finished eating when they noticed their bags were missing.
“We didn’t even know it was happening,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter.
Hideki Matsuyama had finished eating when he, his caddie and his coach were robbed
Matsuyama, seen with Tommy Fleetwood (left) and Scottie Scheffler (center), won a bronze medal in Paris
“We were just having a nice meal and Shota was the first one to say, ‘Hey, where’s my bag?’ Of course it was frustrating, but we didn’t really know it was happening. It was just all of a sudden.”
Matsuyama, who fortunately did not lose his medal in the robbery, added that they did not pursue the attacker.
He finished third in Paris, while American Scottie Scheffler won gold and Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood won a silver medal.
Matsuyama’s wallet was stolen and his coach and caddie also had their passports taken away. They are back in Japan to try to remedy the situation.
Matsuyama posted a five-under 65 in the first round of the St. Jude Championship
“…Hopefully they can join us as a team as soon as possible,” Matsuyama said.
Matsuyama added Thursday that his caddie Hayato has a chance to return for the TOUR Championship on Aug. 29, but said his coach Kuromiya had doubts.
Despite this, Matsuyama seemed unfazed by the drama as he shot five-under 65 in the opening round.
At the time of writing, his score after 12 holes in the second round stood at -10.