Golfer Hideki Matsuyama has revealed the unfortunate details of how he, his caddie and his coach were robbed in London after the Olympics.
Matsuyama, 32, won a bronze medal for Japan in Paris and headed to England for a night afterwards.
But the 2021 Masters champ had his belongings stolen during the trip, and said after the FedEx St. Jude Championship that 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 that their bags were gone.
‘We didn’t even know it happened,’ Matsuyama said through a translator.
Hideki Matsuyama had finished eating dinner when he, his caddie and his coach were robbed
Matsuyama, seen with Tommy Fleetwood (left) and Scottie Scheffler (center) captured a bronze medal in Paris
‘We were just having a friendly dinner, and Shota was the first one – ‘Hey, where is my bag?’ Of course it was frustrating, but we really didn’t know it happened. It was just kind of all of a sudden.’
Matsuyama, who thankfully did not lose his medal in the robbery, added that they did not chase after the assailant.
He placed third in Paris while the USA’s Scottie Scheffler won gold and Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood won a silver medal.
Matsuyama’s wallet was stolen, while his coach and caddie had their passports taken and have been back in Japan trying 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 on Thursday that his caddie Hayato has a chance to return for the TOUR Championship on August 29, but said his coach Kuromiya was doubtful.
Regardless, Matsuyama seemed unaffected by the drama as he shot five-under-65 in the opening round.
He sat at -10 overall through 12 second-round holes at the time of writing.
