Ryo Ishikawa competes on the Korn Ferry Tour in pursuit of a PGA Tour return at age 34. [Photo=PGA Tour]
Ryo Ishikawa competes on the Korn Ferry Tour in pursuit of a PGA Tour return at age 34. [Photo=PGA Tour]

Ryo Ishikawa of Japan, once known as the "Bashful Prince" of golf, is drawing attention as the 34-year-old competes full-time on the Korn Ferry Tour in a bid to reclaim his PGA Tour card.

Ishikawa shot a 2-under-par 69 in the final round of the Evans Scholars Championship at Glen Club (par 71) in Glenview, Illinois, on Monday, finishing in a tie for 10th at 17-under 267. No Seung-yul and Kim Chan missed the cut.

Ishikawa made his PGA Tour debut 17 years ago at age 17. He had already won on the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO) at 15 — the youngest player ever to do so — and went on to tie for 20th at the Masters Tournament at 19 before cracking the world top 50 at 20.

Known for his film-star looks as much as his game, Ishikawa was the face of Japanese men's golf during his seven years as a full PGA Tour member from 2012. He recorded two runner-up finishes and nine top-10s but never lifted a winner's trophy.

Watching rival Hideki Matsuyama thrive on Tour while nursing his own injuries, Ishikawa lost his Tour card in 2017. He returned to Japan, rebuilt his game and went on to win 20 times on the JGTO.

Now he is playing full-time on the Korn Ferry Tour with his sights set on a PGA Tour return after a decade away. In 16 starts this season, he has made 12 cuts, with one top-10 and six top-25 finishes. His best result is a tie for third at the Acunet Classic in June.

In the final round of the Evans Scholars Championship, Ishikawa was paired with 19-year-old American prodigy Blaze Brown — a pairing that seemed to hold up a mirror to his own past.

"Brown is far better than I was at 18 or 19," Ishikawa told Golf.com. "Honestly, at that age I was playing well on the Japan Tour but had no idea how to play on the PGA Tour. He is not only a great player but a great person."

Like Ishikawa, Brown has taken an unconventional path. He turned professional at 17, forgoing college, and made his first PGA Tour cut at last year's Mexico Open. Earlier this year at The American Express, he played alongside Scottie Scheffler and Kim Si-woo in the final round, announcing himself to a wider audience.

In a 2012 Asahi Shimbun column written when he was 21 and in the thick of PGA Tour life, Ishikawa reflected: "Attacking the course and finding chances to win felt like solving a mystery every time. Each round taught me which skills I still needed to sharpen."

At the Acunet Classic in June, where he tied for third, Ishikawa said: "Getting back to the PGA Tour is a tough goal, but I'm working every day to get a little bit better."


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