Ryo Ishikawa receives invitation for the Masters Tournament despite being ranked outside top 50 – Golf News
The Japanese golf superstar, who is currently getting ready to tee off at the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open, received an invitation from the Masters Tournament to be a part of the event as an exemption.
He is currently ranked 53rd in the Official World Golf Rankings and needed to be among the top 50 to qualify for the first major event of the year.
However, he was told by the Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne that he is being given special exemption just like the one he received in 2009 to play the event.
Therefore, he does not need to worry about trying to qualify anymore, like other players who will be seen contending in the tournaments in the month of March.
"Historically, the Masters has invited international players not otherwise qualified to expand the Tournament's global reach," Payne said in a press release.
"Ryo Ishikawa is an accomplished player on the Japan Golf Tour, and we believe his presence will help increase interest not only in his home country, but also throughout Asia," he added.
At the time of his first invitation, he became the second youngest player to compete in the Masters.
Many golf experts believe that his invitation was justified at that time because he was among the emerging young players from all over the world, especially from the Asian continent.
He was shattering his opponents on the Japan Golf Tour, which was enough to give him a chance to be a part of the major event.
However, he has failed to impress his fans since then, and has not done enough to reach the event on his own.
Therefore, giving him an exemption for the second time for an event, which is believed to be the most prestigious one in the game of golf, makes no sense at all.
According to the analysts, it will mark a discouraging precedent for the players such as Ernie Els, who has a spectacular track record at Augusta National.
Moreover, he is still trying to improve continuously, as he is ranked outside the top-50.
Therefore, giving another invitation to the young Ishikawa will be a bad example for the future.
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