Ryo Ishikawa & Hideki Matsuyama serve as a beacon of hope for the disaster stricken victims in Japan
It seems like Ryo Ishikawa made the right call by sticking to his tour commitments rather than going back to his disaster stricken homeland. The golfer’s decision to keep playing is indeed proving to be a sound one as far as the Japanese people are concerned
as the player is doing more good while staying on tour. Why do we say that? Because the golfer has donated all his earning form the Masters to relief efforts.
Ishikawa earned an impressive total of around 9.3 million yen for the disaster relief efforts in Japan. This figure includes his earnings from finishing the event tied for the 20th place, as well as the bonus he got for making a whooping 13 birdies
and an eagle to boot over the span of the entire tournament.
While the teenage golfing prodigy can feel good about the difference he is making, he also has a lot to celebrate much professionally. The T20 finish was the Japanese star’s best performance at not only the Masters, where he didn’t make the cut in both of
previous two attempts, but also his best performance in any Major Championship outside his home tour.
The young powerhouse played remarkably well throughout the event and especially during Sunday’s final round. He eagled the 2nd, a par-5 hole, and pulled off birdies thrice over the last four holes to shoot a final round of 2-under 70. This effectively
translated into Ishikawa posting a totals score of 3-under 285. As if him making a third appearance at the Masters at only 19-years of age wasn’t achievement enough.
Ishikawa had made a public announcement that he would be donating all his earning from the JGTO Tour and overseas majors that he planned to feature in this season with an additional 100,000 yen for every birdie he makes. Now he seems to be making good on
his promise. Not only does this newly defined purpose help the victims back home but also seems to be doing wonders for his game in general.
Another Japanese player doing his country proud is the amateur sensation Hideki Matsuyama. The golfer recently got awarded the Silver Cup for being the lowest-scoring amateur. The youngster stirred things up quite a bit and had the golfing world buzzing
with excitement by being the only non-professional to have made the cut out of the total of 6.
And it’s safe to say that he did not disappoint, in his first appearance at the Masters the player already has to his credit the second-lowest score of the third round, a 68. Not a bad way to start off at the Masters of we do say so. After all, his fellow
countrymen Ishikawa didn’t even make the cut in his first two attempts.
Matsuyama told reporters he hopes that his performance at the Masters achieved its goal of lifting the spirits of the affected people in Japan and that it gave them hope. He also revealed that he would be reappearing at Augusta next year if everything went
according to plan.
As for Ishikawa, he will be heading home immediately to make it in time for the opening round of the Token Homemate Cup which will be kick-starting the JGTO Tour.
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