While it’s hard to measure the size of the economic impact brought to Japan by Hideki Matsuyama’s historic Masters victory a week ago, there is hope within domestic golf circles that the historic feat will boost the sport’s popularity going forward.
“From what I've seen, I believe that we’ve had roughly 10% more people coming to our store since Matsuyama won the tournament,” said Makoto Yasuda, who manages the main Osaka branch of national golf merchandise retailer Tsuruya Golf in a telephone interview on Friday. “I think that is the influence of his win.”
Yasuda was expecting to see an even bigger difference in foot traffic beginning over the weekend after the 29-year-old’s triumph at Augusta National potentially inspired casual fans to hit the links.