Nico Echavarria lauds PGA Tour rival while commenting on Japan’s golf culture after Zozo Championship win

Nico Echavarria won the 2024 Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Japan on Sunday. The Colombian golfer carded a final-round 67 to beat Justin Thomas and Max Greyserman by one stroke. He bagged the $1,530,000 winner’s paycheck.

Following the win, Echavarria lauded the Japanese golf culture and noted that he was “very impressed.” The golfer detailed how the country is opening a pathway for many upcoming players to reach the PGA Tour. The two-time Tour winner went on to laud Japan’s star golfer Hideki Matsuyama for his ‘incredible career.’ He further noted that the “future of Japanese golf” was in “good hands.”

Speaking in the Zozo Championship winner’s press conference on Sunday, Nico Echavarria said (at 8:19):

“I am very impressed with the Japanese culture, giving the opportunity to a lot of players to play. That is the best thing the country can do for golf. It gives them a chance to play on the PGA Tour. Hideki (Matsuyama) obviously is a hero here because of the incredible career he had and I see that there's a lot of good golf from Japan coming up. So the future of Japanese golf is in good hands.”

It is pertinent to note that Matsuyama became the first-ever Japanese professional golfer to win a men's major golf championship when he won the 2021 Masters. The 32-year-old finished T46 at the Zozo Championship.

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Hideki Matsuyama’s PGA Tour career so far

Hideki Matsuyama turned pro in 2013 and qualified for the PGA Tour through non-member earnings in 2014. The golfer, who had six top-25 finishes in just seven PGA Tour-sanctioned events, became a breakout star on the circuit. He clinched his first PGA Tour win at the 2014 Memorial Tournament after beating Kevin Na in a playoff. This was the first win for a Japanese player on the circuit since Ryuji Imada in 2008.

The win also helped Matsuyama reach his then-career high Official World Golf Ranking of 13th. He recorded ten wins on the Tour, including the 2021 Masters at Augusta. Following his maiden win in 2014, he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in 2016.

Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 Masters Tournament (Source: Imagn)

He then recorded victories at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in 2017. He also successfully defended the Waste Management Phoenix Open that year. However, he didn’t win another title in over three years. Apart from the Masters, the ace golfer won the Zozo Championship in 2021. He also won the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2022.

Matsuyama has 64 top-10 finishes in 264 stars on the PGA Tour. He has finished nine times in third place and seven times as runner-up. The golfer has amassed a total of $55,422,165 from the circuit, making him the most successful golfer from the Asian continent. He currently sits seventh in the world rankings.