Few Masters Tournament viewers were as emotionally linked to the outcome Sunday than Sean Maruyama.

The UCLA golfer gathered with his teammates as Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese man to win a major championship..

“I’ve played with him a few times, I’ve been with him on the range,” Maruyama said Monday. “It’s crazy to think he’s a Masters champ. I was a little worried at the end but he came through. We were all cheering him on.”

Maruyama’s dad Shigeki was the most successful Japanese player on the PGA Tour before Matsuyama came along. He won three PGA Tour events, finished second to Mike Weir at the PGA Tour event at Riviera, and won all five of his matches in the 1998 Presidents Cup, leading the International Team to its only victory over the U.S. in that event.

In 2013, the Presidents Cup was held at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Shigeki was an assistant captain and Sean was able to hang around the team.

Shigeki moved to Los Angeles, and Sean was born here and went to Campbell Hall High in Studio City before he came to UCLA. He was the 2016 Western Junior champion and made the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in 2019.

Kengo Aoshima, from Japan, is on UCLA’s team after he transferred from Wake Forest.

The elder Maruyama is the coach of Japan’s Olympic men’s golf team, and now Matsuyama’s appearance on the first tee in August becomes one of the most anticipated events in the entire Games.

“Hopefully they will be able to let the gallery in for that,” Sean Maruyama said. “I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like for Japanese fans to see the Masters champion compete for the gold medal. Obviously, Hideki always has a lot of weight on his shoulders.”

Sean said he visits Japan “three or four times a year,” plays with some of his dad’s friends and other pros, and practices at the triple-decker driving ranges that have become a symbol of Japan’s golf obsession.

“The older generation is usually there, but in the morning you normally have to wait because there are no spots open,” Sean said. “A lot of the attention has shifted to women’s golf because the women have been more successful lately, so it was great for people to see there are Japanese men worth watching it.”

Matsuyama flew back to Japan on Monday through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Someone posted a photo of the champ sitting alone at his gate with the green jacket draped over a nearby seat.

“I saw it and I was thinking, that’s exactly who he is,” Sean said. “He’s not going to be the guy who goes out and goes crazy. He’s reserved and a little shy, but once he gets comfortable, he smiles a lot. I think it’s great to see him be true to himself, in character.”

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