First off the Tee: Youth movement in motion as Japanese amateur Matsuyama earns Masters bid

When you think of golf the first thing that pops into your head is probably Tiger Woods, followed quickly by veteran tour professionals like Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, as well as the great Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. Or maybe perhaps its your favorite club, from that flawless set of Callaway irons, to your sweet TaylorMade driver that always adds some much needed distance to your above average tee shot. With all of the names, brands and pool of international talent in place, its time to start looking across the Pacific at the three headed monster brewing in Japan. While international talent is nothing new to golf, now more than ever players from overseas are beginning to make their mark. With Lee Westwood set to take over the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings from Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell's outlasting the field at the 2010 U.S. Open Championship, to Y.E. Yang's stunning victory over Woods in the 2009 PGA Championship, the level of international talent in golf is far and away the best and deepest it has been arguably in the history of the sport. But with the rise in talent, particularly amongst the Asian players on tour, a new youth movement in golf is set to take the stage here in 2011. With Hideki Matsuyama's 4-under 67 final round at the Asian Amateur Championship this past Sunday, the 18-year-old earned an invitation to the Masters next spring and a place in the final stage of qualifying for the British Open. Playing bogey-free at Kasumigaski Country Club and having broke par in all four rounds, Matsuyama was able to cruise to a five-shot victory over Australian Tarquin MacManus and the rest of the field. With his sites set on Augusta National and all the buzz surrounding his stellar performance, Hideki is set to join a two headed monster already making its mark both on the Japan Tour, and here in the states with the PGA Tour of American. With Yuta Ikeda and Japanese favorite Ryo Ishikawa already making strides at, having competed well in a number of tournaments this year on tour. Matsuyama is setting himself up nicely to follow in the footsteps of Ishikawa, who received a special international invitation from Augusta National Golf Club to play in April's Masters Tournament in 2009. Having turned pro in 2008 at the age of 16, Ishikawa played on the Japan Golf Tour, winning twice and finishing fifth on the tour's money list. In 2009 the now 17-year-old, who is ranked 51st in the Official World Golf Ranking, became the youngest golfer to play in the Masters since Tommy Jacobs did in 1952. As a 15-year-old amateur, Ishikawa won the Japan Golf Tour's Munsingwear Open KSB Cup in 2007, making him the youngest winner on a tour recognized by the world golf ranking. Yet while Ishikawa, who made is debut in 2009 at the Northern Trust Open, has already begun to solidify his place on tour, Yuta Ikeda, 24, has five wins in just two years in the big leagues at home. He's already ranked 61st in the Official World Golf Ranking and has been playing solid golf between the two tours all season. With four wins on the Japan Golf Tour in 2009 including the Japan PGA Championship, Vana H Cup KBC Augusta, Canon Open, Bridgestone Open, look for Ikeda to hit his stride in the states as these young talents learn to adapted to the rigors of travel, larger courses and an increased talent pool which includes the world best golfers. The key for these three in particular will not only be adapting the demands of increased travel, as many European players also play in both the European Tour as well as the PGA Tour in America, but courses in Japan are often not designed to look for feel like the course they see while playing on tour in America. Ikeda, who has made five trips to the United States this year says that the courses and the grasses used are the obvious differences between competition in America and his homeland. But there is another important distinction between the two tours that might also appeal to more of the mental aspect to the game. Ikeda went on to say that that, "To me, though, the biggest difference is the scale of golf in America and Japan. Here in the States, the events, the tournaments are big events. Galleries are big, the level of competition is greater here in the United States. Players are longer here. To win here in the United States is much more difficult to do than in Japan. So my answer, what is the difference, the scale of the two Tours is noticeably different." Whatever the case, be it the weather, demands of travel, lack of resources (golf courses are few and expensive in Japan) or the pressure of playing amongst the best in the world, these three young professionals mark a movement in Japanese golf that had been missing for quite some time. With other more seasoned professionals on tour already, including Katsumasa Miyamoto, Ryuji Imada and Yuko Mitsuka, look for these youngsters to evolve during the course of the 2011 PGA Tour season as experience, age and overall feel for the style of play condescend of American golf slowly begin to come together. With all the buzz surrounding Callaway's expansion into India, the level of talent coming out of Korea, and the Europeans continued march toward the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, I can't wait to see the next evolution in Japanese golf as the up and comers from across the pond make there way over the the PGA Tour of American next season.