Ryo Ishikawa (AFP)
Japanese teenage star Ryo Ishikawa, fresh from his fourth domestic title of the year, says he will feel the whole of Japan behind him when he plays at this week's Presidents Cup.
Japanese teenage star Ryo Ishikawa, fresh from his fourth domestic title of the year, says he will feel the whole of Japan behind him when he plays at this week's Presidents Cup.
"I feel heavily responsible because I am the only Japanese selected to the international team," he said Monday before leaving for San Francisco where the match play event will be contested between the United States and the rest of the world minus Europeans.
"But I want to turn this into a positive," the Tokyo high school student, who turned 18 last month, told reporters at Tokyo's Narita airport.
"I will be very much thrilled, whoever I may face. But, as a matter of course, I believe Tiger Woods will be the greatest presence of all."
On Sunday, Ishikawa birdied the final two holes to win the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic by one stroke for his sixth career Japan Tour win and remain on the top of the domestic earnings list.
He has revived the Japanese men's game and amused the world media after becoming the youngest winner of any event on the world's six major tours when he took the domestic KSB Cup as an amateur, aged just 15, in 2007.
"I think this will be a very important week which will become an asset in my golf career," he said. "I want to play solid golf, valuing every moment with the team every day."
Internationals captain Greg Norman picked Ishikawa and struggling Australian Adam Scott last month for his 12-player team after the Asian prodigy won the Fujisankei Classic
Ishikawa will be the first Japanese in four editions to play in the Presidents Cup which has been held almost biennially since 1994.
The Americans lead the rivalry 5-1-1 and have never lost on home soil.
Ishikawa finished fifth in last year's Japan Tour money rankings in his rookie season as a pro and made his US PGA debut this year.
He has played three majors this year, missing the cut at the Masters and the British Open and finishing tied for 56th spot at the US PGA Championship. He was partnered with Woods at the British Open where the world number-one also bowed out at the halfway stage.
The Tokai Classic win has made him eligible to play at the HSBC Champions November 5-8 in Shanghai, which has become a World Golf Championship event.
But this has left him in a dilemma as one of Ishikawa's sponsors, Toyota, is due to stage a domestic event in the same week.
"Basically, I am considering taking part" in the HSBC Champions, he said.
© 2009 AFP/sid
