, also known by the nickname , 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 winningMunsingwear Open KSB Cup 2007 the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup at the age 15 years and 8 months. 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.Official World Golf Ranking – 20 May 2007
Professional career 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 player ever 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 for which he qualified 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.
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.The Daily Yomiuri, 8 December 2009, p. 18
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.
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."Ishikawa's 58 sets major-tour record". Associated Press. 2 May 2010. His round consisted of 12 birdies and six pars. 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.Ryo Ishikawa Shines at Pebble in Bubblegum Pink Golfblips, 17 June 2010
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.
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.
Ishikawa played on the PGA Tour in 2013. 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.
Ishikawa had nine top-25s and made 14 cuts during the 2014 season, including a second-place finish at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and a tie for fifth at the unofficial ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf.
Professional wins (21) Japan Golf Tour wins (20) Legend Japan majors (3)Other Japan Golf Tour (17) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up123 May 2007Munsingwear Open KSB Cup(as an amateur)−12 (72-69-69-66=276)1 stroke Katsumasa Miyamoto22 Nov 2008Mynavi ABC Championship−9 (70-70-70-69=279)1 stroke Keiichiro Fukabori328 Jun 2009Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic−13 (69-65-68-73=275)3 strokes David Smail42 Aug 2009Sun Chlorella Classic−17 (65-68-71-67=271)1 stroke Brendan Jones56 Sep 2009Fujisankei Classic−12 (69-65-68-70=272)5 strokes Daisuke Maruyama64 Oct 2009Coca-Cola Tokai Classic−14 (71-68-66-69=274)1 stroke Takeshi Kajikawa72 May 2010The Crowns−13 (68-70-71-58=267)5 strokes Hiroyuki Fujita, Paul Sheehan85 Sep 2010Fujisankei Classic (2)−9 (66-71-68-70=275)Playoff Shunsuke Sonoda913 Nov 2010Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters−14 (70-72-65-67=274)2 strokes Brendan Jones1011 Nov 2012Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (2)−15 (67-69-69-68=273)1 stroke Michio Matsumura116 Jul 2014Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup−10 (69-71-67-67=274)Playoff Koumei Oda1220 Sep 2015ANA Open−16 (68-68-67-69=272)2 strokes Yūsaku Miyazato136 Dec 2015Golf Nippon Series JT Cup−14 (68-68-63-67=266)5 strokes Yoshinori Fujimoto, Koumei Oda1428 Aug 2016RIZAP KBC Augusta−15 (66-68-70-69=273)5 strokes Michael Hendry, Brad Kennedy, Tadahiro Takayama157 Jul 2019Japan PGA Championship−13 (65-67-71-66=269)Playoff Hwang Jung-gon1625 Aug 2019Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup (2)−20 (67-66-67-68=268)4 strokes Juvic Pagunsan178 Dec 2019Golf Nippon Series JT Cup (2)−8 (68-70-68-66=272)Playoff Brad Kennedy1813 Nov 2022Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (3)−8 (68-66-69-69=272)Playoff Rikuya Hoshino1923 Jun 2024Japan Players Championship−21 (66-64-69-68=267)1 stroke Kota Kaneko2010 Nov 2024Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (4)−11 (66-71-65-67=269)1 stroke Riki Kawamoto, Hideto Tanihara
Japan Golf Tour playoff record (5–6) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12009Japan Open Golf Championship Yasuharu Imano, Ryuichi OdaOda won with birdie on second extra hole22010Fujisankei Classic Shunsuke SonodaWon with par on fourth extra hole32011Totoumi Hamamatsu Open Masanori KobayashiLost to birdie on second extra hole42014Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup Koumei OdaWon with birdie on third extra hole52018Golf Nippon Series JT Cup Hwang Jung-gon, Satoshi KodairaKodaira won with birdie on first extra hole62019Japan PGA Championship Hwang Jung-gonWon with eagle on first extra hole72019Golf Nippon Series JT Cup Brad KennedyWon with birdie on third extra hole82022ANA Open Tomoharu OtsukiLost to eagle on first extra hole92022Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters Rikuya HoshinoWon with birdie on second extra hole102024BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup Hiroshi IwataLost to par on first extra hole112025ANA Open Takumi KanayaLost to par on second extra hole
Other wins (1) 2008 Kansai Open
Results in major championships Results not in chronological order in 2020. Tournament2009201020112012201320142015201620172018Masters TournamentCUTCUTT20CUTT38U.S. OpenT33T30CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTT27CUTCUTCUTPGA ChampionshipT56CUTCUTT59T29CUT Tournament201920202021202220232024Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipCUTU.S. OpenT51CUT63CUTThe Open ChampionshipNT
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1Totals 0 0 0 0 0 1 25 10 Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2012 PGA – 2013 PGA) Longest streak of top-10s – 0
Results in The Players Championship Tournament2015The Players ChampionshipT8
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Results not in chronological order before 2015. Tournament200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020ChampionshipT4268Match PlayR16R64R32NT1InvitationalT53T4T50ChampionsT17T41T66T67NT1 1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play NT = no tournament "T" = tied
Team appearances Professional Royal Trophy (representing Asia): 2009 (winners), 2010, 2011, 2012 (winners), 2013 Presidents Cup (International team): 2009, 2011 World Cup (representing Japan): 2013, 2016
See also 2013 Web.com Tour Finals graduates List of golfers with most Japan Golf Tour wins Lowest rounds of golf
References
External links
Panasonic Ryo Ishikawa official site Type of golf equipment used by Ryo Ishikawa