Asian Amateur champion Hideki Matsuyama said he will take away a host of memories from the 2011 Masters, in which he won the prestigious Silver Cup for Low Amateur.

Though less heralded than several of the other non-professionals in the field, the 19-year-old from Japan was the only amateur to make the cut. With his 74 on Sunday, he shot a total of 287, 1-under-par. He tied for 27th place with seven others players, including defending champion Phil Mickelson.

Matsuyama said there is one memory that stands out for him above all the others this week.

"As I came up the hill on the 18th hole and heard the applause from the gallery, I got chills, and I was so happy to hear that," Matsuyama, a college sophomore, said. "That is a great memory I can take home."

So was the birdie he made on that 72 hole of the 75th Masters, and patrons erupted once again when his putt fell into the hole. They kept clapping as Matsuyama walked off the green and bowed his head several times in humble acknowledgment of the applause.

It was a storybook week for Matsuyama. He played with poise and precision even as the earthquake and tsunami that severely damaged his college last month weighed heavily on his mind, and even after his homeland was rocked with another earthquake in the middle of Masters week.

Matsuyama's third-round 68 proved to be one of the finest rounds of the Tournament, a brilliant trip around a golf course that typically requires years of study before yielding its secrets. Only the veterans Angel Cabrera, Adam Scott and Bubba Watson went lower that day.

Matsuyama's four-day total score was the fourth lowest for an amateur in Masters history, and the same one Jack Nicklaus posted as an amateur in 1961, Nicklaus' third Masters.

As Low Amateur, Matsuyama not only received the coveted Silver Cup but also joined an impressive list of golfers who have won that honor in a Tournament co-founded by the incomparable amateur Bobby Jones. The list includes Ken Venturi, Sergio Garcia, Billy Joe Patton and Matt Kuchar.

His work completed for the week, Matsuyama said he was ready to return to Japan. His college in Sendai, Tohoku Fukushi University, remains closed and his dorm "half destroyed," in his words. He was to begin his journey home on Monday.

He said he planned to volunteer to assist victims of the disaster. "I don't know exactly what I am going to do, but I know my coach will tell us what kind of things we can do together," he said.

Looking further into the future, Matsuyama said he would stay in college until he graduates. Which means he also intends to defend his Asian Amateur title when it is played next year in Singapore.

And try to earn a return trip to the Masters.