S'pore Golfer Hiroshi Tai, 23, Served NS As Weapons Specialist In Navy, First S’porean To Play In Masters Tournament

Though it is early days, Singapore golfer Hiroshi Hirahara Tai appears set to join the ranks of local sporting stars Joseph Schooling, Max Maeder, and Loh Kean Yew.

The 23-year-old became the first Singaporean invited to play in the 2025 Masters Tournament, one of golf’s most prestigious majors. The tournament started yesterday (Apr 10). 

Hiroshi earned the invitation after he won the NCAA Division One Men’s Championship in 2024.

Before making headlines for the Masters, Hiroshi already broke new ground by becoming the first Asian to win the National College Athletic Association Championship in May last year.

Despite being only 23, he is ranked 47th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, with a peak of No.19.

Hiroshi, who is a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he majors in Business Administration, also has one very Singaporean thing that has already been checked off his list.

He has completed his National Service (NS).

Hiroshi served as a 3rd Sergeant and Weapons Specialist in the Singapore Navy and ORD-ed in 2021.

In an interview with ESPN Originals posted to TikTok, it was revealed that Hiroshi had to be on a ship often, and had very limited time to play golf.

Still, he would maintain his skills with a golf net whenever he had shore leave.

In an interview with The Straits Times, Georgia Tech’s assistant coach Devin Stanton recalled being impressed with Hiroshi’s maturity post-NS

“Without a doubt, he was the most mature freshman I’ve ever seen,” says Devin who adds that Hiroshi “came in and was a grown man”.

Still think spending two years in NS is a waste of time?

Born in February 2002 in Hong Kong to a Singaporean father, Jacky Tai, and Japanese mother, Yukiko, Hiroshi moved to Singapore at two and lived here till he was nine.

He then moved to Shanghai for three years before relocating to the United States, and currently resides in Windermere, Florida.

Hiroshi’s introduction to golf came at the age of four, when his parents brought him to the Bukit range at the Singapore Island Country Club.

Hiroshi’s parents also told The Straits Times that their son tried his hand at other sports such as rugby, football, tennis, swimming, and track.

But golf stuck for him.

By age seven, Hiroshi was already entering tournaments in the United States, and by 12, was enrolled in a golf academy there.

Hiroshi’s sister, Yoko, is a junior at Columbia University in New York who plays golf at the college level.

Photos: Hiroshi_tai/IG, georgiatech/IG, ESPN Originalss/TikTok, themasters/IG,