Hideki Matsuyama has claimed 10th spot in the world golf rankings, the first time in 18 years that a Japanese has been named among the top 10 male professional golfers, according to the latest ranking announced Sunday.
The 24-year-old Matsuyama, whose previous best was 11th, won the Japan Open Golf Championship last weekend to move up from 18th to 13th, then finished second in the CIMB Classic on Sunday to improve three notches and become only the fourth Japanese golfer in history to make the top 10.
According to the Japan Golf Tour Organization, Tsuneyuki Nakajima is the highest-positioned Japanese male having ranked fourth in the point-based system in 1987, followed by fifth-ranked Masashi Ozaki in the 1996-1997 seasons and eighth-ranked Isao Aoki in 1987.
Jason Day of Australia topped the latest rankings for Week 43, with American Dustin Johnson second and Briton Rory McIlroy in third.
Elsewhere for Japan, Yuta Ikeda ranked 59th, Hideto Tanihara ranked 71st and Ryo Ishikawa was 96th.
In the world ranking for women, Ai Miyazato took the No. 1 spot in June 2010 as a 25-year-old.
Meanwhile, organizers for the Nov. 10-13 Taiheiyo Masters said U.S. PGA Tour regular Matsuyama, who won the tournament as an amateur player in 2011, will take part in the 72-hole competition as his second event on the Japan tour this season following the Japan Open.
