Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa wants the good times to roll again after he led an impressive home charge at the Zozo Championship where three local players finished in the top 10 for the first time in the tournament’s history.
The 18-time Japan Golf Tour winner finished a solid tied fourth at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club following a closing 3-under 67 to register his first top 10 finish on the PGA Tour since 2016.
At age 15, Ishikawa made golf history by becoming the youngest winner on the Japan Golf Tour in 2007 and would turn professional the next year. By the time he turned 20, the boy who was called the Bashful Prince for his charm and looks was a nine-time winner, a world top-50 player and an International Team member at the Presidents Cup in 2009 and 2011.
Thereafter, Ishikawa graduated to the PGA Tour and from 2013 to 2017, competed against the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, scoring two career-best runner-up finishes before a back injury cut short his American dreams. His absence also coincided with the emergence of eight-time PGA Tour winner Hideki Matsuyama, while Ishikawa, now 32, battled his way back though the Japan Tour.
“It's been about five years since I've been back, but I've always been trying to rebuild myself so I can go back. I really feel like it's never too late to achieve that, and I'm working hard for it. I'm happy to finish in the top 10. I'm really, really pleased about that,” Ishikawa, whose last top 10 on the PGA Tour was in 2016, said at the Zozo Championship.
Compatriots Kensei Hirata and Ryo Hisatsune closed with matching 66s to finish joint sixth as American two-time major winner Collin Morikawa claimed his sixth PGA Tour title by romping to an impressive six-shot victory after a bogey-free 63 in the final round.
With a top 10 finish, Ishikawa earned an exemption into the next FedEx Cup Fall event, the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico in two weeks’ time, and he did not hesitate to accept the opportunity at another crack at rejoining the elite. He will also need to finish in the top two to earn enough points to regain PGA Tour. Status.
“I'm really happy to finish in the top 10. 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,” said Ishikawa, who now has 12 career top 10s in 157 PGA Tour starts.
“I've always hoped 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.” He was also delighted to see Hisatsune, 21, and Hirata, 22, enjoying top finishes against the stars who teed up in the fifth edition of the Zozo Championship, which featured 14 Japanese players this week.
“I've been playing back on the Japan Tour for about the past five years, and recently I've really noticed the momentum the players who are in their early 20s have had, which is great. Our league is very competitive at the moment, especially amongst the youngsters. So instead of feeling like it's more like an achievement or something, I feel like it's more a reality,” Ishikawa.
Satoshi Kodaira (T12) and Yuki Inamori (T16) were the next highest placed Japanese players after closing with a 72 and 71 respectively while Hideki Matsuyama settled for joint 51st after signing off with a 72.
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