Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Residence: Jupiter, Fla.
College: Auburn
Interests: Fishing
Occupation: Golf professional, restaurant owner, mortgage broker
The Golf Channel says:
If you want to know Hiroshi Matsuo's potential, just ask three-time PGA Tour winner Olin Browne."I've known him a long time and he is extremely talented," said Browne. "He has so much ability, which sometimes can add pressure because people wonder why you haven't done more with your game. When he is putting well, he is hard to beat because he strikes the ball so well."
Several times Matsuo has reached the intersection of potential and success but hasn't turned the corner in his career. For years people would refer to him as the best player not on a major tour, which was a backhanded compliment at best. That changed when Browne practically dragged him to Q-School in 1999, where he ended up earning a playing card on the Nationwide Tour.
After playing the Nationwide Tour, he later was the leading money winner on the Golden Bear Tour. With his winnings, he invested in the family restaurant business.
"No matter how good you are, there are no guarantees playing this sport for a living," said Matsuo, who has a degree in Business Marketing from Auburn University. "The one thing that I always protected myself against is not having anything to fall back on. I've seen too many guys who were talented but never made it out of the mini-tours and have no trade to fall back on."
The restaurants provide the security needed to make sure his wife and daughter are taken care of. Seemingly, the time is right to make golf a priority.
"The main reason I'm not playing full-time is I have no confidence in the putter," said Matsuo, who now uses a long putter. "Although, I seem to be getting more confident every day. The long putter is getting very comfortable and I'm starting to look into the possibility of coming back."
Long before putting was an issue, Hiroshi was set on going to the University of Florida, but felt they took advantage of him during recruiting. Eventually, when they offered him a scholarship he turned them down and went to Auburn instead. He chose Auburn, in part, because he knew they'd always be playing Florida.
Unfortunately, his stint at Auburn didn't go well. He quit the team his junior year and left school.
"Golf wasn't as important to kids then as it is now," explains Matsuo. "We were all good but it was a different time period. The golf was great, it was just we had a little too much fun."
Biography courtesy of The Golf Channel; used with permission
