Spain's Jon Rahm, who won the 2023 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, isn't the only person who captured the attention of golf fans over the weekend.
His achievements have almost been overshadowed by 'Masters Girl' Aaliyah Kikumoto, who was spotted on TV standing behind the eventual champion at the 16th tee and quickly became a social media sensation, being viewed over 3 million times within 24 hours of a TikTok clip featuring her getting posted.
Speaking to Newsweek, alongside her father Charles Kikumoto, the Texas Tech cheerleader and dancer revealed how she found out that she was "blowing up" the internet and how her life has been in the whirlwind 48 hours after she became the breakout star of the Masters.
For a long while, Kikumoto didn't even know that she had been mentioned by Double Bogeys Only along with a caption: "Somehow I feel in love with someone I only saw for 15 seconds."
@double.bogey this made the masters 10 times better #masters #golf #golfgirls #golftiktok #masters2023 #augusta
♬ original sound - lucia <3
Kikumoto had no idea about the fuss she was causing on the internet and told us: "[I] didn't know. After the Masters tournament we went back to our home. There are no phones so we had no idea what was going on at that time."
It was only later in the evening that she started to get messages that she was making waves on TikTok.
The cheerleader continued: "That evening my friends told me they saw me a few times and shared screenshots and video but nothing crazy. We went to dinner and then we got home and my phone was blowing up.
"My friends called me and said you're on a TikTok video. Look at what I just sent you! Then I saw two videos. I commented on one and said "that's me!" Then my phone was literally blowing up."
Kikumoto's dad Charles also told Newsweek that it went from a quiet night to crazy times.
He said: "Throughout the evening though there was a fair amount of buzz about slow play which helped show interest for everyone on hole 16—including Rahm and [Brooks] Koepka.
"On my end this is getting a lot of interest within my guys' golf group text since the chatter shows me and my daughter.
"Monday morning things got really crazy and the TikTok videos were still getting lots of views and interest. Then the first article comes out Monday morning..."
Aaliyah Kikumoto said she got a big welcome from her friends when she returned to Lubbock, Texas after being in Augusta until Monday night.
She told us: "All my friends in Lubbock greeted me when I arrived and embraced what was going on. I have great friends."
With any internet sensation, there is also a downside with going viral and Kikumoto said that she had been subjected to some trolling because of it, but had an ideal way of dealing with the situation.
She said that the easiest way of not being dragged down by the trolls was to "try to just avoid any negativity."
While being theone of the big takeaways from this year's Masters, Aaliyah Kikumoto said that there was another moment that made the tournament for her and it involved a former world number one, who won the 2015 Masters tournament.
She told us: "[I] loved getting a fist pump from Jordan Spieth from this year's Masters."
Aaliyah Kikumoto said that she had not decided which sporting event will be her next appearance but has her eye on an as-yet-unspecified event in May for which all eyes will be on to see if she will take social media by storm once again.
Do you have a tip on a sports story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about golf? Let us know via entertainment@newsweek.com.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
