What is the problem with Ryo Ishikawa and his minders?
There was the strange scenario very late on the final day of Sunday’s concluding Thailand Golf Championship with the Japanese star on the Omata Spring practice range hitting balls under a blazing sun but with some half-a-dozen security personnel, who could have been employed elsewhere, stopping around 100 interested fans from taking photos.
And the security staff were also not allowing tournament official photographers in taking pictures of the golfer dubbed the ‘Bashful Prince’.
'Too Intense' - Ryo Ishikawa on the practice range late on Sunday in Thailand.
Now if Ishikawa was still out on the golf and heading for his nine over par finish in the Asian Tour event then fair enough.
But no!
Ishikawa’s tournament had been over for nearly an hour and he was on the practice range, and about the time Lee Westwood was making his way to the outward nine on the course proper and an eventual seven shot success in the Thai capital.
Ishikawa recorded far from flashy rounds of 70, 77, 77 and 73.
It seems Ishikawa’s management asked for fans to ‘show respect’ dnd this despite the fact the practice range is not off limits to any spectator wishing to take pictures.
If Ishikawa elects to hit balls on the range late on Sunday, and for that matter any day of any tournament, then the public are quite entitled to take photographs.
Also the sight of Ishikawa, who ended the event finishing well down the field and tied with Open Champion Darren Clarke, drew me to the remarks of Westwood, who had played after playing alongside the 20-year old for the opening two rounds of the Thai event.
Westwood stated Ishikawa is ‘too intense’ and needed to get more away from golf instead of playing 33 events he did this year.
Well this is exactly what Westwood was talking about!
And in finishing well down the field, Ishikawa has lost his 50th place World Ranking and finds himself 51st meaning he forfeits an automatic invitation to contest next April’s Masters.
He will have up until the end of March to move back inside the 50 if he is to qualify for the first Major of 2012.
