Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama qualifies for next month's US Open
Hideki Matsuyama booked his spot at next month's US Open after winning the Asia-Pacific qualifying event in Japan.
Last Updated: 27/05/13 1:51pm
The 21-year-old up-and-coming Japanese star posted a 36-hole total of 132, giving him a comfortable margin of four strokes.
Matsuyama, who only turned professional last month, offset a single bogey with nine birdies at Ohtone Country Club in Bando, just north of Tokyo.
Matsuyama is still at university and, since leaving the unpaid ranks, has won once and finished second twice in four events on the Japan Tour.
He also won on Tour as an amateur and is now up to No 84 in the world rankings and Matsuyama said: "I could play in a relaxed frame of mind because my iron shots were good. I want to give all I have at the US Open."
Survived the cut
He has already played twice in the Masters at Augusta National, finishing as top amateur in 2011 when he tied-for-27th, and 12 months later he also survived the cut to complete 72 holes.
Earlier this year Matsuyama made it through to The Open Championship at Muirfield in July by finishing second in the Asian qualifier.
Korean Hwang Jung-Gon was the only non-Japanese qualifier for the US Open, with the other three places taken by Yui Ueda, Hiroyuki Fujita and Yoshinobu Tsukada.
Fujita and Tsukada made it through via a play-off - at the expense of Masanori Kobayashi - after all three pros had carded 36-hole totals of 138.
The US Open at Merion in Pennsylvania begins on June 13.
