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Sunday March 30, 7:10 PMGolf: Ishikawa tumbles in domestic professional debut(Kyodo) _ Teenage golfing sensation Ryo Ishikawa stumbled out of contention on the back nine in a round of 79 and finished tied for 42nd place Sunday in the G-One Open -- his first tournament in Japan as a professional.The 16-year-old Ishikawa, who was in a six-way tie for the lead after an opening 67, saw his title hopes dashed after carding a 9 on the par-4 14th hole en route to a 4-over-par 146 at the Wild Duck Country Club in Ibaraki Prefecture. Yuya Morimoto won the 36-hole non-tour event on 6-under 136 and earned 10 million yen out of the 30 million yen purse. Seventy-six players from a field of 161, including 45 amateurs, had made the cut and played in Sunday's round. Ishikawa stayed in contention until a nightmare struck him at No. 14, where he pulled his drive deep into the trees and was given a two-stroke penalty for snapping a tree branch with a practice swing. He managed to find the fairway with his fifth shot before his approach to the green landed in a bunker. "It is the most frustrating thing that happened to me in the hundreds of tournaments I've been in," Ishikawa said. "All of a sudden I blanked when I was handed the penalty," he said. "I realize how poor I am in managing my game and hopefully I can make good use of this experience if and when I find myself in title contention in a tour event this year." Ishikawa chose the G-One Open for his first domestic tournament since turning pro in January, three weeks before the Japanese tour opens its new season at the Token Homemate Cup. In his pro debut in Sydney in February, Ishikawa shot 72-78 in a 36-hole qualifying event for the British Open, falling nine strokes short of breaking into the leading quartet guaranteed their places at Royal Birkdale in July. Last year, the high school student from Tokyo stunned the golfing world by becoming the youngest winner on the Japanese men's top-tier professional tour when he won the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup in May as a 15-year-old amateur. The victory gave him an exemption from the JGTO tour through the 2009 season while paving the way for him to turn professional. |
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