Golf: Isao Aoki, “The Tower”
To be great, one must start from scratch. Build up, piece-by-piece and grow, step-by-step and that is exactly what Isao Aoki did. One of the best Asian player’s of
all times identifies Arnold Palmer as his inspiration and the catalyst in his decision to pursue a career in golf.
Hailing from a very humble background, being a farmer’s son, Isao started his career small. His first encounter to the sport came at the age of fifteen, when he took
a caddying job, at the Abiko Golf Club. From that point onwards, there was no
turning back for the golfer. Though Isao’s career graph is stacked with one victory after another, he is best known for butting heads against the great, Jack Nicklaus, in the most epic match in the history of golf. Although the Asian placed second in the 1980
US Open, he did give Nicklaus a good run for his money. The two men were sharing the lead when they went into the final round. The match is still remembered as; golfing at its best and that is what distinguished him in the eyes of the golfing world. Looking
back on the match Aoki said,
“I kept telling myself no matter how perfect he is he will make a mistake in 72 holes in four days. But I was wrong. Jack did not make any errors until the end
of the tournament”.
Nicklaus bagged his fourth US Open title with a record score of 272, while Aoki’s score of 274, and became the second lowest 72-hole score in the tournaments history.
“The Tower”, nicknamed after the Tokyo Tower because of his height, learned from his stint against Nicklaus and went on to win the Hawaiian Open title in 1983. He shot
an eagle on the 72nd hole from 128 yards and holed his pitching wedge; snatching the victory from under flabbergasted Jack Renner’s nose by one shot.
"I realized there was a player in the world who could play far better than I ever imagined that experience led to my first victory.”
He has won more than fifty wins on the Japan Golf tour alone, from 1972 to 1990 and stands second to only, Masashi Ozaki on the golfers, for the most Japan Tour wins
list. He has also won the Japan Golf Tour money list, a grand total of five
times in six years and through 2009, was number eight on the career money list.
The sixty-eight-year-old is extremely proud of his Japanese heritage and still lives in Tokyo; even though, he has to travel almost constantly, being Japan’s global
golf ambassador. The World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, the first Japanese to have been given the honor, is known as the Arnold Palmer of
Japanese golf. Aoki’s massive success has been credited to his expertise around the green. Fellow Hall of Fame member, Chi Chi Rodriguez said about the
man “I've never seen a putting stroke like his in my life; He's the king of the jabbers." Jack Nicklaus also had similar remarks
“What a touch. What a putter”. Where we mention the great man, how could we not mention his trademark technique? What started as an extremely unorthodox “, toe-in-the-air style”, with the flat stick, became his trademark move even after he changed
putters. For a man, who only started playing because he wanted to see the world through golf, Isao Aoki has achieved a lot more. He is recognized, all around the world and is a golfing icon. His success has not only earned him a place in history but he has
become the inspiration for all modern day players.
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