Ryo Ishikawa vows to follow in Rory McIlroy’s footsteps to bag a major title
Ryo Ishikawa’s disappointing run at this year’s US Open, the second major of the season, has done little to deter the little golf wizard to mark his move in his future endeavors.
Ishikawa, who had started off the opening round with a rather sloppy 18-hole score, later consolidated his position to finish off for a respectable two-over, 286, though still, miles away from the rampaging Rory McIlroy who lifted the first major title of
his career at the tender age of 22.
The Japanese was overwhelmed with McIlroy’s performance and had a chance to reflect upon his position amongst the ruthless new breed of golfers emerging from across the world.
"I came to painfully realize just how big of a gap there is between me and the best in the world," Ishikawa said. "He's close to me in age so it's been incredibly motivating. I hope I can get to that level myself one day."
Ishikawa opened up his first round, dropping shots all over the place at Congressional’s Blue Course, which has allegedly played a lot softer for the US Open event. He stumbled with three bogeys in his front nine and made the turn to fall for a double bogey
at the newly created par-three, 10th. The player carded four bogeys and a triple bogey to finish off for a 74. Second round turned out to be comparatively better as the Japanese fell for four bogeys and carded five birdies to close with 70.
Ishikawa tee-ed off for the third round well aware by that time that McIlroy had finally moved to a point of no return and there was rarely anyone in the field who would challenge his position, let alone Ishikawa himself. Posting another disappointing round
of 74, Ishikawa went ahead to finally close his bid for the US Open with a three-under, 69 on the final day. He finished tied for 30th.
"I kept telling myself that the worse the results, the less I need to think about them," he said.
Ishikawa barely managed to barge into the Top 50 at the start of June to reserve a place at the US Open, when he posted strong runner-up finish at Totoumi Hamamatsu Open on the Japan Tour. He missed consecutive cuts in the proceeding tournaments and entered
the coveted major with a weary form.
The 19-year-old has moved slightly up the leaderboard in this year’s US Open after he finished tied for 33rd in his first venture for the title in 2010. He also had a strong finish in the Masters at Augusta this April where he finished tied for
20th, his best results so far in a major.
Ishikawa will be heading for the Mizuno Open starting Thursday which plays as the qualifying event for the British Open. The young golfer went over to set a brilliant example for everyone to follow when he announced to donate all of his Masters earnings
to the disaster struck victims of his home country.
The player has visited several quake affected sights since his return from the Masters and continues to be an inspiration for the young golfers of the country.
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