Hideki Matsuyama will be without his caddie and coach this weekend after the trio were robbed in a London airport. The three were en route to the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Memphis, Tennessee, following the Olympics in Paris, but made a pit stop in London.
Hideki Matsuyama will be without his caddie and coach this weekend after the trio were robbed in a London airport.
The three were en route to the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Memphis, Tennessee, following the Olympics in Paris, but made a pit stop in London. While there, Matsuyama had his wallet stolen, while both his caddie, Shota Hayoto, and coach, Mikihito Kuroyima, had their passports snatched.
Hideki Matsuyama Suffers Robbery at London Airport, Coach and Caddie Forced to Return to Japan
Thus, his caddie and coach were forced to return to Japan, where they are having their passports and visas reissued.
"There’s a chance they’ll make it [to the tournament], but we have to go into it thinking it’s close to zero," Matsuyama said, per Golf Digest Japan.
Hideki Matsuyama Suffers Robbery at London Airport, Coach and Caddie Forced to Return to Japan
The New York Post actually notes the earliest they could get to the U.S. is the week of the Tour Championship; Matsuyama would have to be within the Top 30 to play at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, and is currently ranked eighth.
Without his partners in crime, Matsuyama says "all the responsibility is on me."
Hideki Matsuyama Suffers Robbery at London Airport, Coach and Caddie Forced to Return to Japan
"I’m looking forward to that for the first time in a while," he added.
Matsuyama will instead have Taiga Tabuchi on his bag for the foreseeable future.
"I want to pass on to [Tabuchi] what I’ve cultivated with Shota [Hayato] on the course," Matsuyama said.
The 2021 Masters champion took home the Olympic bronze medal behind American Scottie Scheffler's gold and Brit Tommy Fleetwood's silver. He won the Genesis Invitational earlier this year, which was his first victory since the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii.
