Ishikawa’s Strong ZoZo Showing Reminds Golf World Of His Enormous Talent

2 years ago by Comments Off on Ishikawa’s Strong ZoZo Showing Reminds Golf World Of His Enormous Talent

As an avid follower of any sport you often find yourself searching web pages looking to try and keep abreast of what is happening around the globe in your sporting love.

Golf is no different as I am forever looking at the results of the various tour’s, studying not only who is leading and/or winning a tournament but also looking to see who produced a good last rounds or someone of note who just played well

Following this past week’s edition of the ZoZo Championship what was really pleasing was seeing the name Ryo Ishikawa just off the leading pace for all four days of the PGA Tour event, and resulting in the now 32-year- old’s superb share of fourth place behind Collin Morikawa.

The effort earned Ishikawa a prize cheque for $US 374,000 and his biggest PGA Tour payout in nine long years, and while also being a best Tour finish also since 2014.

Looking closer, Ishikawa was one of only two players over the four days to post four rounds in the 60s among the limited 78-player field while it was the 18-time Japan Golf Tour winners first PGA Tour top-10 in seven years.

If you thought the arrival into the winners circle of Rory McIlroy was big news in early 2009 it hardly compared to the 20th May 2007, when Ishikawa, and still an amateur, became the youngest winner ever of a men’s regular tournament on the Japan Golf Tour by winning the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup.

Ishikawa, and also competing in a first Japan Tour event, was aged just 15 years and 8 months and quickly being touted to become the first Japanese-born player to win one of the four mens majors.

Back then, McIlroy was some four years older than Isikawa and was nudging close to 50 DP World Tour counting events, both as an amateur and pro, before he captured a first success at the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic.

Ishikawa turned professional in 2008 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.

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 qualified for without receiving a special exemption.  It was also the year in 2009 he first competed on the PGA Tour albeit just a small handful of events.

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 while he easily topped the Tour money list.

Ishikawa caught the attention of American golf fans at the 2010 U.S. Open when he arrived on the tee wearing a bright bubblegum pink outfit.

There was a sombre side to the Japanese golfing idol when in 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.

On 11 March 2012, the one-year anniversary of the Japan earthquake, Ishikawa finished runner-up to George McNeill in the Puerto Rico Open, his highest PGA Tour finish thus far. Just over a week later, Ishikawa became a member of the PGA Tour. The second-place finish earned Special Temporary Membership by exceeding $411,943, or 150th on the PGA Tour’s 2011 money list.

It meant Ishikawa competing on the 2012 PGA Tour. He made 13 cuts in 23 events, finishing 149th on the money list and missing the FedEx Cup playoffs (ranked 141st).

His 2014 PGA Tour season was a career best for Ishikawa in finishing 72nd on the money list by earning $US 1.38m over the course of the season and helped by a $US 528,000 payday in finishing runner-up at the Shriners Hospital Open.  However, the following 2014/15 wraparound season was disappointing, missing 11 of 28 cuts and losing his Tour card.

While back home in 2015 he won two Japan Tour events and one in 2016 while injuries would beset Ishikawa playing just six 2015/16 PGA Tour events while in season 2016/17 he missed 12 of 20 cuts, finishing well done the FedEx Cup standings.

Ishikawa returned to the PGA Tour for the 2019/20 season playing only five events, making the cut in three but earning a paltry $US 20,000.

Though there was better fortune in his beloved Japan returning to the winner’s circle in the later half of 2019 and winning three times.  Last year, he captured his 18th Japan Tour title, winning a third Visa Taiheiyo Masters, a decade after winning a second.

With Sunday’s top-10 ZoZo finish, Ishikawa earned an exemption into the next FedExCup Fall event, the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, in two weeks, and he did not hesitate to accept the opportunity at another crack against the stars from the PGA TOUR.

“I’m really happy to finish in the top 10,” he said.

It’s been great to play in a PGA Tour event here in Japan. The atmosphere was amazing. I felt really good playing in front of the Japanese fans.

“I’m always hoping to get back on the PGA TOUR. It’s been about five years since I’ve been back, but I’ve always been trying to rebuild myself so that I can go back. I just really feel like it’s never too late to achieve that, so I’m always working hard for it.”

At age 32, Ishikawa is still some two years younger than McIlroy and I am sure I’m not alone in wishing his strong ZoZo showing can lead to a resurgence in the fortunes of this ultra-talented Japanese golfer and back to those lofty heights of 15, 16-years ago.

 



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