ALL EYES ON LOS ANGELES
It may not prove quite as momentous as Tiger Woods’ debut in the same event 17 years ago, but 17-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa makes his maiden American appearance this week at the Northern Trust Open, tackling Riviera on a sponsor exemption. Already a two-time winner in Japan (the first coming as a 15-year-old amateur at the 2007 Munsingwear Open), the much-touted Ishikawa is listed at 173 cm and 68 kg (or a rather slight 5’6” and 150 pounds), yet he managed to average a shade over 290 yards off the tee in 2008, good enough for seventh place among full-time J Tour players. Though rated 62nd in driving accuracy (point of reference: Tiger was 169th last year, and 152nd in 2007), Ishikawa also finished 3rd in the J Tour’s average number of putts statistic – a nice skills combination that goes a long way towards explaining both his ranking 2nd in average number of birdies and, more generally, why people are so excited about his long-term prospects.
Ishikawa has also received a special exemption at The Masters (they apparently come cheaper these days) which is particularly relevant because in today’s golfing world, his ultimate status will be determined far more by what he can do against European and PGA Tour competition than any record of (potential) domination in Japan. And here’s an interesting point of reference: Despite only taking the game up seriously after World War II, Japan has produced its fair share of quality players, including Isao Aoki (a one-time PGA Tour winner, and the nation’s only male Hall-of-Famer) the Ozaki brothers, “Tommy” Nakajima and, most recently, Shigeki Maruyama, whose three PGA Tour victories is (easily) the most by a Japanese player. But Maruyama has struggled a bit of late (he’s winless worldwide since 2003), leaving the door wide open for Ishikawa to quickly establish himself as Japan’s first truly great international star. Of course, it’s a little early to be judging him, regardless of what he does at Riviera...
And for the record, a then-16-year-old Tiger shot 72-75 and missed the cut by six.
Also notable is the relatively lean field in Los Angeles. With the WGC Match play scheduled for next week in Arizona, and Anthony Kim being the only world top-20 to render himself geographically removed by playing in Malaysia last week, the table appeared to be set for a Northern Trust field at least on par with last year’s – a knockout gathering which featured 17 of the world top 20. Instead, only 10 of the elite will be on hand, with stalwarts like Sergio Garcia (#2), Henrik Stenson (6), Robert Karlsson (7) and Camilio Villegas (9) – all of whom figure to be present in Arizona – being conspicuous only in their absence. Of these four, Villegas has actually made the journey Down Under to compete in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, an event skipped by Geoff Ogilvy (8), Adam Scott (18), Robert Allenby (30), Aaron Baddeley (42) and Stuart Appleby (46) – Australia’s top five players, all of whom (with the exception of Scott) are entered in Los Angeles.
I wonder how OneAsia might factor into all of this...
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