Hideki Matsuyama clarifies circumstances of downtown London robbery

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – Hideki Matsuyama, his caddie, and his coach, who were robbed in London last week, had just eaten dinner and paid the check at a downtown restaurant when they realized their bags were missing.

Matsuyama spoke about the robbery after signing for an opening-round, 5-under 65 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Thursday. He played with a fill-in caddie, Taiga Tabuchi, after his regular bag man, Shota Hayafuji, and his coach, Mikihito Kuromiya, were forced to return to Japan to sort out their travel documents.

“It was an unfortunate situation,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter. “Luckily, I only lost my wallet, but Shota, my caddie, and my coach, lost their passports, and we're trying hard now to get their visas back in line, and hopefully they can join us as a team as soon as possible.”

Fill-in caddie Tabuchi usually works for Ryo Hisatsune, who didn’t make the FedExCup Playoffs.

Matsuyama, Hayafuji, and Kuromiya were on their way back from the Paris Olympics, where nine-time PGA TOUR winner Matsuyama earned the bronze medal, when they stopped for the night in London.

Matsuyama previously said his caddie and coach will miss next week’s BMW Championship in Denver, but on Thursday allowed that his caddie could return for the TOUR Championship at East Lake in two weeks.

"Shota will make it, I think,” Matsuyama said, “but my coach probably won't.”

There was no high-speed chase through the streets of London, he added, or any chase at all.

“We didn't even know it happened,” Matsuyama said. “We were just having a friendly dinner, and Shota was the first one – Hey, where is my bag? Of course it was frustrating, but we really didn't know it happened. It was just kind of all of a sudden.

"Yeah, he just took it and ran,” he added.

Matsuyama, the winner of The Genesis Invitational at The Riviera Country Club earlier this season, made seven birdies and two bogeys in the opening round at TPC Southwind. He came into this week at No. 8 in the FedExCup and showed no ill effects from breaking in a new caddie, Tabuchi.

"Kind of reminded me of the first time Shota was on my bag,” Matsuyama said. “We kind of worked through a couple things. Really that was the main thing today is having teamwork with my caddie. Playing well, and I don't know how Shota is going to take it, but we'll work that out.”

Would Shota still have a job when he gets back?

Matsuyama laughed.

"Of course,” he said.