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The PGA's Prince Hits Palm Harbor

Tribune photo by CLIFF MCBRIDE

Japanese teenager golfer Ryo Ishikawa practices on the range Wednesday morning at Innisbrook Resort.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 18, 2009

Updated: 03/19/2009 02:04 am

PALM HARBOR - When he showed for his first PGA Tournament, the media crush was bigger than when Tiger Woods played his first pro event.

Eldrick hasn't left the building - in fact, he's just returning - but there's a new sensation in men's golf.

Our visitor from the East is 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa. He's in town to play in the Transitions Championship, which begins today at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club. Just him and three or four dozen of his bestest Japanese media friends.

They filled the Innisbrook media work room. They ain't waiting on Billy Mayfair. They're here to detail each shot made by Ishikawa, who has been a rock star in Japan since he won his first event on the Japanese Tour when he was 15.

Eat your heart out, Michelle Wie.

Ryo (allegedly pronounced REE-Oh) has been so good so fast that the stuffed shirts at the Augusta National, who still know Asian TV rights when they see them, sent young Ryo an invitation to play in next month's Masters. Those things don't grow on dogwoods, you know.

And who would have thought Ishikawa and I share the same nickname - Hanikami Oji, or "Bashful Prince."

Actually, he didn't seem bashful when he met with media after a practice round at Innisbrook on Tuesday. Ishikawa was quite engaging. He's also known for wearing bright colors on the golf course, including banana yellow pants that can be seen from space.

"Hello again, and Happy St. Patrick's Day," Ishikawa said in English. He then thanked the Transitions organizers for inviting him back to America.

"The last two weeks, I miss American hamburgers."

And now on to the interpreter!

Ishikawa's game is not lost in translation. At 15, he became the youngest player to ever crash the Top 100 in the World Golf Rankings. He's currently 68th. He reportedly has $10 million in endorsement deals and is an IMG client.

"He has a presence; you can feel it," said IMG account executive Kevin Lynch, who is with Ryo at Innisbrook.

That and sheer star power have gained Ishikawa sponsor exemptions to U.S. tournaments. It also has people back home thinking Ryo can save the sagging Japanese Tour. He's already paying a price for such expectations. Everywhere he goes, everybody is waiting.

"I can't walk in Japan by myself," a smiling Ishikawa said through interpreter Jumpei Kaneko. "Probably do not have enough bravery to do it."

His first event came at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles, where the 5-foot-9, 140-pounder missed the cut, but led the tournament in attention. Leading PGA rookie Jeff Klauk saw it all. Klauk, 31. thought about when he was 17.

"Shoot, I was just trying to shoot under par, beat my little brother," Klauk said. "Gosh, I can't imagine being 17 and playing a Tour event, and being as good as he is ... I've never seen so many reporters around one guy in my life."

Ishikawa will next play at in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, his last stop before Augusta and a dream come true. He talked about the invite.

"The invitation was not so big, about this size," Ryo said. He held up his hands to show just how small. "But it feels very heavy, the invitation. I have been watching the Masters since I was in school, and the broadcasts of the Masters in Japan start at like 4, 4:30 [in the morning], which is very early, but I woke up every morning and watched the program before I went to school."

Now, about the nickname.

"I don't dislike to be called the Bashful Prince. But I wonder if they really think I am the Prince. It is rather uncomfortable to be called Prince."

It's not easy being the next Tiger Woods, in Japan or anywhere else, especially when the last Tiger Woods shows no signs of not wanting to be the next Tiger Woods, too. Ishikawa will be a sideshow at best when the real Tiger returns to Augusta.

"Tiger Woods," Ishikawa said. "Tiger."

Tiger and Ryo met briefly at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Ishikawa was just an alternate, but he and Tiger met after a practice round. Someone snapped the picture seen 'round the world. Standing between them was interpreter Jumpei, who tells you to call him JP.

"It was a special moment for [Ryo]," JP said.

Ryo Ishikawa won't be the youngest Master participant in history, just the second youngest. But he has four years to beat Tiger to youngest Masters winner. Tiger was 21 when he did it, the slow poke.

The Bashful Prince isn't afraid of what lies ahead, at least on the golf course. But there are always news conferences, "which makes me very, very nervous," he said.

As for practicing at Innisbrook, he said, "The course beat me, but I'm sure I can learn a lot from the course, and it will help my game."

He added, "Lastly, the hamburgers of this clubhouse are dangerous."

Bashful my eye.

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