Hideki Matsuyama and his team victims of shock robbery in UK ahead of FedEx Cup Playoffs

PGA Tour star Hideki Matsuyama, his caddie Shota Hayafuji and his golf coach Mikihito Kuromiya were victims of a robbery during a stopover in London last week, according to Golf Digest Japan.

The shock robbery happened shortly after Matsuyama, 32, had secured a bronze medal at the Olympic Golf Tournament at Le Golf National in Paris on Sunday 4 August. 

Matsuyama and his team encountered the robbery during a quick stopover in London, England, following their trip from Paris, France, before heading over to Memphis, United States, to compete in the FedEx St Jude Championship that takes place at TPC Southwind this week. 

But Matsuyama will now be without his usual caddie Hayafuji and his golf coach Kuromiya at the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the PGA Tour because both of their passports were stolen during the robbery.

Both Hayafuji and Kuromiya have been forced to return back home to Japan temporarily in order to get their passports and visas reissued. 

Matsuyama also had his wallet stolen during the robbery, but thankfully his Olympic bronze medal was not taken. 

According to Golf Digest Japan's report, the earliest Hayafuji and Kuromiya will be able to reuinte with Matsuyama will be during the week of the Tour Championship at East Lake, the tournament that determines the FedEx Cup champion in the last week of the month. 

"There's a chance they'll make it, but we have to go into it thinking it's close to zero," Matsuyama told Golf Digest Japan. 

Matsuyama will now have Taiga Tabuchi standing in as his caddie for as long as he needs to be during the next three weeks of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Tabuchi is the full-time caddie of Japan's Ryo Hisatsune, but he missed out on the 70-man FedEx St Jude Championship after finishing 83rd in the standings.

"I'm glad he [Tabuchi] accepted," said 2021 Masters champion Matsuyama.

"He's worked with Hisatsune this year, so I think he knows the ropes, and he can speak English, so I can rely on him."

Matsuyama added: "I'm going to play golf as if I went back to the way I was before I had a coach. I feel like all the responsibility is on me. I'm looking forward to that for the first time in a while. 

"I want to pass on to him (Tabuchi) what I've cultivated with Shota on the course."

Matsuyama is a lock for the 30-man Tour Championship come the end of the month as he currently ranks eighth in the season race.

The winner of the FedEx Cup will receive a record PGA Tour prize of $25m.

Matsuyama enters this week off the back of a bronze medal at the Olympics and five top-10 finishes in official PGA Tour events this season, highlighted by a ninth PGA Tour title at the Genesis Invitational in February. 

The Japanese star is ranked 12th in the world.