Ryo Ishikawa (石川 遼, Ishikawa Ryō, born 17 September 1991), also known by the nickname "Hanikami Ōji" (ハニカミ王子, literally, "Bashful Prince"), is a Japanese professional golfer.
Amateur career
On 20 May 2007, Ishikawa became the youngest winner ever of a men's regular tournament on the Japan Golf Tour by winning[2] the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup at the age 15 years and 8 months.[3] The Munsingwear Open was his first tour event; he participated as an amateur. He finished one shot ahead of the ninth top-ranked player in Japan 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 tied for thirteenth, six shots shy of Ishikawa. Taniguchi ranked number 86 in the world after the event.[4]
Professional career
Ishikawa turned professional in 2008[5] and won another Japan Golf Tour tournament, the mynavi ABC Championship. By the close of 2008, he had become the youngest player ever to reach the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
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.[6]
Ishikawa dominated the Japan Golf Tour for much of the 2009 season and was 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.[7]
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.[7]
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.[8] His round consisted of 12 birdies and six pars.[8] However, because the course was a par-70 (versus the par-72 courses where some players shot 59), the record is not the lowest in relation to par.
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 before falling back over the weekend.[9]
On 30 March 2011 Ishikawa announced that he would be donating all of his 2011 tour earnings, plus an additional ¥100,000 for every birdie he made during the year, to the Japan earthquake relief efforts.[10]
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.[11] The second-place finish earned Special Temporary Membership by exceeding $411,943, or 150th on the PGA Tour's 2011 money list.
Ishikawa played on the PGA Tour in 2013.[12] He made 13 cuts in 23 events, finishing 149th on the money list and missing the FedEx Cup playoffs (ranked 141st). He played the Web.com Tour Finals and finished 13th to retain his PGA Tour card for 2014.
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