Ryo Ishikawa
| Ryo Ishikawa 石川 遼 |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Ryo Ishikawa |
| Nickname | Hanikami Ōji |
| Born | 17 September 1991 Matsubushi, Saitama |
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) |
| Nationality |  Japan |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 2008 |
| Current tour(s) | Japan Golf Tour (joined 2008) |
| Professional wins | 10 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| Japan Golf Tour | 9 |
| Other | 1 |
| Best results in Major Championships |
|
| Masters Tournament | T20: 2011 |
| U.S. Open | T30: 2011 |
| The Open Championship | T27: 2010 |
| PGA Championship | T56: 2009 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| Japan Golf Tour leading money winner |
2009 |
Ryo Ishikawa (石川 遼 Ishikawa Ryō, born 17 September 1991), also known by the nickname "Hanikami Ōji" (literally, "Bashful Prince"), is a Japanese professional golfer.
On 20 May 2007, Ishikawa became the youngest winner ever of a men's regular tournament on the Japan Golf Tour by winning[1] the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup at the age 15 years and 8 months.[2] He competed as an amateur and it was Ishikawa's first tour appearance. He finished one shot ahead of Japan's 9th top ranked player at the time, Katsumasa Miyamoto. The highest ranked player on the Official World Golf Ranking who took part in the event was Toru Taniguchi who finished T13, 6 shots shy of Ishikawa. Taniguchi ranked number 86 in the world after the event.[3]
Ishikawa turned professional in 2008[4] and won another Japan Golf Tour tournament, the mynavi ABC Championship. By the close of 2008 he had become the youngest ever player to reach the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
Ishikawa played in PGA Tour tournaments for the first time in 2009. He was cut from the Northern Trust Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the 2009 Masters Tournament. He finished 71st at the Transitions Championship.
On 28 June 2009, Ishikawa won the Gateway to the Open Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic on the Japan Golf Tour to qualify for the 2009 Open Championship, the first major event he has qualified for without receiving a special exemption.
With four wins on the Japan Golf Tour in 2009, in September, Ishikawa became the youngest golfer ever to reach the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.[5]
Ishikawa dominated the Japan Golf Tour for much of the 2009 season and has been the top-ranked Japanese player in the World Rankings. On 18 October, he tied for second at the Japan Open, losing to Ryuichi Oda on the second hole of a playoff. He finished the season as the money list leader on the Japan Golf Tour with ¥ 183.52 million.[6]
At the Japan GTO awards, held in December 2009, Ishikawa earned 9 titles. In addition to top money earner, he was named MVP, best scoring average (69.93), best putting average (1.724), highest birdie haul (4.42), etc.[6]
On 2 May 2010, in the final round of The Crowns, he shot a 12-under-par 58 to win the tournament by five strokes. The 58 was the lowest score ever carded in a Japan Golf Tour event, eclipsing a 59 achieved in the first round of 2003 Acom International by Masahiro Kuramoto, and lowest ever on any major golf tour.[7] His round consisted of 12 birdies and six pars.[7]
Ishikawa caught the attention of American golf fans at the 2010 U.S. Open. Wearing a bright bubblegum pink outfit, he played under par on the first day and was tied for second after the second day.[8]
On 30 March 2011 Ishikawa announced that he will be donating all of his 2011 tour earnings, plus an additional ¥ 100,000 for every birdie he makes during the year, to the Japan earthquake relief efforts.[9]
Contents |
[edit] Professional wins (10)
[edit] Japan Golf Tour wins (9)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 May 2007 | Munsingwear Open KSB Cup (as an amateur) | -12 (72–69–69–66=276) | 1 stroke | Katsumasa Miyamoto |
| 2 | 2 Nov 2008 | mynavi ABC Championship | -9 (70–70–70–69=279) | 1 stroke | Keiichiro Fukabori |
| 3 | 28 Jun 2009 | Gateway to the Open Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic | -13 (69–65–68–73=275) | 3 strokes |  David Smail |
| 4 | 2 Aug 2009 | Sun Chlorella Classic | -17 (65–68–71–67=271) | 1 stroke |  Brendan Jones |
| 5 | 6 Sep 2009 | Fujisankei Classic | -12 (69–65–68–70=272) | 5 strokes | Daisuke Maruyama |
| 6 | 4 Oct 2009 | Coca-Cola Tokai Classic | -14 (71–68–66–69=274) | 1 stroke | Takeshi Kajikawa |
| 7 | 2 May 2010 | The Crowns | -13 (68–70–71–58=267) | 5 strokes | Hiroyuki Fujita, Paul Sheehan |
| 8 | 5 Sep 2010 | Fujisankei Classic | -9 (66–71–68–70=275) | Playoff | Shunsuke Sonoda |
| 9 | 13 Nov 2010 | Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters | -14 (70–72–65–67=274) | 2 strokes | Brendan Jones |
[edit] Other wins (1)
- 2008 Kansai Open
[edit] Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | CUT | T20 |
| U.S. Open | DNP | T33 | T30 |
| The Open Championship | CUT | T27 | CUT |
| PGA Championship | T56 | CUT | CUT |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10
[edit] Summary
- Tournaments played: 11
- Wins: 0
- Top 10s: 0
- Top 25s: 1
- Missed cuts: 6
- Most consecutive cuts made: 2
[edit] Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accenture Match Play Championship | DNP | R16 | R64 |
| Cadillac Championship | DNP | DNP | T42 |
| Bridgestone Invitational | DNP | T53 | T4 |
| HSBC Champions | T17 | T41 | DNP |
- DNP = Did not play
- QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
- "T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] Team appearances
Professional
- Royal Trophy (representing Asia): 2009 (winners), 2010, 2011
- Presidents Cup (International team): 2009, 2011
[edit] References
- ^ Munsingwear Open KSB Cup 2007
- ^ Reuters: Golf-Japan hails schoolboy as world record breaker
- ^ Official World Golf Ranking – 20 May 2007
- ^ Sjoholm moves into top 10 as Ishikawa turns pro – 16 Jan 2008
- ^ Week 36 – Steve Stricker is the New World Number Two after Victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship
- ^ a b The Daily Yomiuri, 8 December 2009, p. 18
- ^ a b "Ishikawa's 58 sets major-tour record". Associated Press. 2 May 2010.
- ^ Ryo Ishikawa Shines at Pebble in Bubblegum Pink Golfblips, 17 June 2010
- ^ "Ryo Ishikawa to give 2011 golf earnings to Japan disaster victims". The Guardian. UK. 31 March 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/31/ryo-ishikawa-money-japan-earthquake-tsunami. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
[edit] External links
- Ryo Ishikawa at the Japan Golf Tour official site
- Ryo Ishikawa at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- Panasonic Ryo Ishikawa official site
- Type of golf equipment used by Ryo Ishikawa
| Preceded by Urawa Red Diamonds |
Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize Winner 2008, 2009 |
Succeeded by Hakuhō Shō |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
