Ryo Ishikawa: Japan Golf Tour's saviour
IN: News | Japan | The Crowns (2008) | General | by Bruce Young | 02 May 2008
The Japan Golf Tour which has been under pressure to retain events in recent years has been given a massive boost of optimism and energy with the arrival on the professional scene of 16-year-old Ryo Ishikawa.
Ishikawa turned professional earlier this year after winning the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup as a 15 year old in May of 2007 when he came from four shots off the pace heading into the final round to record a round of 66 and win by one in his very first appearance in a Japan Golf Tour event.
The impact Ishikawa is already having on tournament golf in Japan is tangible. “Crowds are flocking to see him play, it is like the Greg Norman days of old in Australia,” said Australia’s Brendan Jones one of the Japan Golf Tour’s most successful players in recent years.
Another Australian professional playing in Japan, Wayne Perske, is also in awe of what Ishikawa is doing for the Tour in Japan.
“This weekend will be crazy, it’s a holiday week and we are in the city,” said Perske from Nagoya where the Japan Golf Tour is playing The Crowns tournament. “If he has a good week there will be 20,000 or so here on Sunday I reckon.”
Japan golf has had several such superstars over the years including the likes of Isao Aoki, Jumbo Ozaki, Tommy Nakajima and Shigeki Maruyama amongst the men and, more recently, Ai Miyazato provided the timely boost the JLPGA Tour needed. The arrival of Ishikawa, however, appears to have captured the imagination of golfing public in a way that few others have.
Perhaps it is because of his amazingly precocious talent, but by those who have played and witnessed this phenomenon first hand they say his manner is endearing him to the public at large in Japan.
“They call him the ‘Shy Prince’ up here,” added Perske, referring to the unassuming and humble manner he possesses. “And what’s more he can bloody play.”
Ishikawa’s photogenic appeal will not hurt either as he and his minders look to capitalise commercially on his outstanding game.
There are many numbers being bandied about as to the worth of the contracts he has already signed but however accurate or inaccurate they may be, it is fair to assume that Ishikawa, already a household name in golf crazed nation of 130 million, will not be faced with the financial pressure of making cuts in the near or distant future for that matter.
A tour that was going backwards two years ago, dropping from 33 events in 2000 to 24 last year (2007) has been offered a lifeline from an unlikely source. At this week’s event in Nagoya, the opening round crowds were more than twice they were twelve months ago and that has been typical of the comparative figures Ishikawa is attracting in his first few events as a professional.
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