Hideki Matsuyama has something more important than any trophy: his family. While the world obsesses over birdies and leaderboards, he guards them fiercely. Nobody knew the Japanese star was married until their daughter was born. A revelation that sent shockwaves through golf. The question everyone’s asking: who is the woman behind the champion?

Who is Hideki Matsuyama’s wife?

Mei Matsuyama and Hideki got married in January 2017. Their relationship remained very private until their daughter, Kanna, was born later that year. The couple’s discretion is not because they want to keep things secret; it’s because they want to. When asked why he never talked about his marriage, Matsuyama said that no one asked, so he didn’t have to.

That response reveals how the couple keeps their lives out of the spotlight.

Unlike other tour wives who maintain social media presence or appear at tournaments, Mei Matsuyama has given the world absolutely nothing to work with. No interviews. No photographs. No profession listed anywhere.

This privacy extends even to his greatest triumph.

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Despite achieving golf’s highest honors, including becoming the first Japanese male golfer to win a Major at the 2021 Masters, Mei and Kanna chose not to attend the historic victory. Matsuyama’s philosophy of compartmentalization, “Golf is golf. Once we get on the golf course, that’s what I’m thinking about,” hasn’t diminished his family’s importance to his success.

He credits them as a constant source of motivation during crucial moments, showing that even golf’s most intensely private champions draw strength from their loved ones watching from home.

Then, in June 2025, the world got a vivid reminder of just how private Mei Matsuyama has remained.

The Mei Confusion: When Matsuyama’s caddie was mistaken for his wife

June 2025 at the Detroit Golf Club. A woman carries Hideki Matsuyama’s bag as he walks to the first tee. Social media explodes: Is that his wife? PGA Tour officials quickly cleared up the confusion; this was Mei Inui, a professional caddie, not Mei Matsuyama. The mix-up, driven by their shared first name, exposed how little anyone actually knows about his wife.

But Mei Inui brought real credentials.

Before moving to the course, she worked as a tour guide for Callaway Japan and spent time in Matsuyama’s office. This wasn’t even her first time caddying for Hideki. She did it for him at the 2016 Hero World Challenge, which he won as part of a four-victory-in-five-starts streak. The pairing was based on her professional background, not her feelings. But the people thought that family ties were more important than job skills.

The mistaken identity makes Mei Matsuyama’s ghostly presence clear. Because no one knows what Mrs. Matsuyama looks like, everyone thought that a different woman with the same first name was his wife. Mei Inui walked fairways with yardage books and read greens like a pro, but the real Mei Matsuyama stayed where she always has been: out of sight of cameras, not at press conferences, and only mentioned by Hideki in rare instances as “my family.”