Who is Taiga Tabuchi? Eveything about Hideki Matsuyama’s emergency-turned-winner caddie

Hideki Matsuyama has emerged victorious in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He won the first of three FedEx playoffs by two strokes over Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland at TPC Southwind in Memphis.

The golfer had a new caddie accompanying him this week: Taiga Tabuchi. Hideki Matsuyama had his wallet stolen in London after he won the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Further, the passport and visas of his caddie Shota Hayato were also stolen following which he returned to Japan for expedited documents.

Taiga Tabuchi was born on May 13, 1993. As per his coaching profile on Midorigaoka47, he won the High school national championship. After graduating from high school, he moved to the United States to study for four years.

Since then, Tabuchi has been caddying on the Japan LPGA. In 2024, he caddied for PGA Tour player Ryo Hisatsune, who has one top-10 finish and finished 84th on the FedExCup standings. Talking about his experience with Hideki Matsuyama, a humble Tabuchi said (via PGA Tour):

"It's been awesome just being with him. He's like the most famous and best Japanese golf player and so forth, so I'm happy to just lie next to him, just walking with him. It's been awesome. Actually, I'm doing nothing. I'm just next to him, carrying the bag. He does everything."

Meanwhile, Hideki Matsuyama was all praise for his emergency caddie. Talking about him, he said (Golfweek):

"This is the first time I worked with (Taiga). In fact, I hadn’t really spoken to him very much prior to this week. I knew he was caddying with Ryo, so we did play some practice rounds together. (But) on the course, you have a routine. But with the new caddie, that routine changes. So, we were working through that all week. But (he) was a great help to me. (He) helped me read a lot of putts."

Hideki Matsuyama has jumped to third from eighth in the FedExCup standings because of his victory at TPC Southwind. He gained 2000 FedExCup points courtesy of the win.

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A look at Hideki Matsuyama's performance in 2024

Hideki Matsuyama has had a great 2024 season. In 17 starts, he has had two wins and six top-10 finishes. Matsuyama also won the 2024 Genesis Invitational by three strokes over Luke List and Will Zalatoris.

Matsuyama's notable finishes this year include a sixth-place finish at the US Open, a T6 at the Players Championship, a T7 at the Valero Texas Open, and a T8 at the Memorial tournament.

Let's take a look at Hideki Matsuyama's performance in the 2024 season:

2024 OLY Golf (M) Tournaments

• Olympic Men's Golf Competition: 3 (63-68-71-65, 267, -17)

2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments

• The Sentry: 58 (71-68-76-69, 284, -8)
• Sony Open in Hawaii: T30 (70-68-67-66, 271, -9)
• Farmers Insurance Open: T13 (66-71-76-67, 280, -8)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T71 (75-71-70, 216, E)
• WM Phoenix Open: T22 (69-68-68-70, 275, -9)
• The Genesis Invitational: 1 (69-68-68-62, 267, -17)
• Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard: T12 (67-70-72-76, 285, -3)
• THE PLAYERS Championship: T6 (69-69-68-67, 273, -15)
• Valero Texas Open: T7 (73-70-66-71, 280, -8)
• Masters Tournament: T38 (76-74-71-74, 295, +7)
• PGA Championship: T35 (70-65-70-71, 276, -8)
• the Memorial Tournament pres. by Workday: T8 (73-70-74-70, 287, -1)
• U.S. Open: 6 (72-66-70-70, 278, -2)
• Travelers Championship: T23 (66-69-69-64, 268, -12)
• Genesis Scottish Open: Missed Cut (71-67, 138, -2)
• The Open: T66 (75-72-75-74, 296, +12)
• FedEx St. Jude Championship: 1 (65-64-64-70, 263, -17)