Hideki Matsuyama earned $2 million for his Masters Tournament victory, but that was only the tip of the iceberg of his potential earnings. The Japanese golfer is worth $35 million, per Celebrity Net Worth, and already had lucrative sponsorship deals prior to 2021. Experts estimated that Matsuyama made between $8 to $10 million a year on endorsement deals with the likes of Lexus, Srixon and Nomura Securities, per Sportico, but they expected those numbers to skyrocket following his Masters title.
Sports marketing expert Rob Dorfman told Sportico that he expects the golfer to easily triple his endorsement earnings for many years to come. "Barring any career-ending injury or scandal, I'd say a Masters win is easily worth $600 million for Matsuyama," Dorfman said. "He'll be an icon in his golf-mad country." Marketing executive David Schwab echoed those bullish predictions about Matsuyama. "He will have limitless brand deals and corporate requests," the executive told Sportico.
Lexus bought stock on Matsuyama early by inking him to a sponsorship deal in 2014. "His team has a fleet of four LX SUVs at his disposal in the U.S. and 1 RX crossover in Japan," per Automotive News. The luxury automobile company struck "marketing reach" gold when Matsuyama wore a shirt with the Lexus logo when he received the green jacket for winning the Masters. Shortly after his groundbreaking victory, Matsuyama signed a three-year partnership deal with IT conglomerate NTT Data, as covered by their website.
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