The 16^th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, which kicked off on Thursday, brings together 120 of the brightest young talents as they embark on a path first cleared by Matsuyama, whose teenage breakthrough at the same championship some 15 years ago became the launchpad to his coveted Masters title in 2021.

The Majlis Course of the Emirates Golf Club, set against the gleaming Dubai skyline, hosts the region’s premier amateur men’s championship. At stake are not only the desired silverware but also golf’s two golden tickets: an invitation to the 2026 Masters Tournament and an exemption into The 154th Open next year.

No figure looms larger over the Asia-Pacific Amateur (AAC) than Matsuyama, who is now regarded as the greatest male golfer Asia has produced. A two-time AAC champion, the 32-year-old parlayed his 2010 victory into a trophy-laden professional career that now boasts 11 PGA Tour victories and most memorably the 2021 Masters, where he became the first Asian player to slip on the famous Green Jacket.

“Winning the 2010 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship gave me the opportunity to play in the Masters Tournament. [...] Making the cut that week helped me realize I could actually have a career playing golf,” Matsuyama recalled.

“I owe a great debt of gratitude to Augusta National and will be eternally grateful for the opportunity to play in the Masters, which helped me reach my dream of playing professional golf. Winning the 2010 AAC was life-changing for me,” he said.

Rising amateurs such as Japan’s Rintaro Nakano, China’s Zhou Ziqin and Korea’s Seonghyeon An have started among the top contenders, while the likes of Indonesia’s Rayhan Latief, Malaysia’s Anson Yeo, Thailand’s Ratchanon “T.K.” Chantananuwat, the Philippines’ Chris Remata and Singapore’s Justin Kuk will strive to produce the week of their lives in contending for the Asia-Pacific Amateur title.

Since its inception in 2009, players from four countries, Korea, China, Japan and Australia, have won the championship.

Rayhan is making his fourth successive appearance in the championship following a best finish of T24 last year, and he is keen to challenge for a first win for Indonesia.

“Competing in the Asia-Pacific Amateur is a big motivation, and what will drive me the most is the opportunity to show our Indonesian fans that we can compete well against players from other nations in one of the best golf tournaments in the world,” said the 18-year-old.

“That’s my main goal, to try and win the Asia-Pacific Amateur this year. I’m going to be prepared, I know I’m built for this, and hopefully I can show that an Indonesian golfer can achieve this goal, as no Indonesian player has won the Asia-Pacific Amateur previously.”

Nakano, who will make his third start, hopes to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Matsuyama as well as Takumi Kanaya and Keita Nakajima, who won the Asia-Pacific Amateur in 2018 and 2021, respectively. After finishing third at the Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba last year and T28 at The Royal Melbourne in 2023, the 21-year-old is fired up.

“I think this will be my last AAC, so I want to enjoy it. Of course I have winning in mind, and I want to play with my full effort while appreciating this tournament that has helped me grow,” said Nakano, who was the 36-hole leader last year before finishing two strokes behind champion Ding Wenyi of China.

He added that the Asia-Pacific Amateur had pushed him to become better in the sport, and his ambitions now include winning major championships.

“I felt the high level of Asian golf during my first AAC in Australia, and last year I was able to compete for the win. I watch [Matsuyama’s] golf swing a lot, and he is a role model to me,” he said.

Zhou, 19, will look to improve on last season’s runner-up finish as he underscores his growing potential.

“The Asia-Pacific Amateur has provided players in the region with an excellent tournament experience,” he said.

“Now, I’ve matured a bit more both physically and mentally, and I’ve also made technical improvements. I hope to be in as good condition as last year. My biggest goal is, of course, to win,” added the University of California, Berkeley student.

Over the years, Chinese golfers have enjoyed winning runs, with Guan Tianlang (2012), Cheng Jin (2015) and Lin Yuxin (2017, 2019) tasting victory and earning appearances at the Masters. Guan inspired many through his historic feat as the youngest ever to make the halfway cut at the 2013 Masters at just 14 years and 5 months old, a performance that earned the admiration of golf legend Tiger Woods.

“It’s frightening to think that he [Guan] was born after I won my first Masters,” said Woods, a five-time Masters champion, who invited Guan to play a practice round with him that year.

For many aspirants this week, Matsuyama remains the ultimate inspiration, a reminder that opportunity and preparation can converge in life-changing fashion.

In 2010, Japan’s status as host nation for the Asia-Pacific Amateur gave him one of four extra spots in the field. He seized the opportunity, won by five shots at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, and then claimed low amateur honors at the Masters the following year.

Eleven PGA Tour victories later, his legacy is etched not just in Japanese golf, but in the heart and soul of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

-- The writer is a former Asia-Pacific communications lead for the PGA Tour, a former communications director for the Asian Tour and the founder of Malaysian consultancy C3PR Services.