Left field

from Raw Japan:

Ai, Ai, Ai!

The Japanese fairway is littered with golf stars who joined the U.S. or European game highly touted, but who found themselves decidedly unexceptional amid a wealth of international talent.

Indeed, "Japan's next Tiger Woods" -- a phrase tossed about more in hope than in fact ( by myself included) --  is a misnomer, as it really hasn't seen its first Tiger, on the global tour at least. 

But Ai Miyazato's maiden LPGA victory at the Evian Masters on Sunday, the first since her tour debut in 2005, is refreshing, not only for her in realising the tremendous potential she earlier displayed in 14 domestic wins, but for the rabid Japanese fans and players back at home.

Many of them also watched 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa's first day at the British Open, where he actually played with Tiger and bested the superstar with a two-under 68, only to see the media boy wonder crash out with a 78 the next day.

While there have been Japanese victories over the years as well as Shingo Katayama's recent fourth at the U.S. Open, expectations remain lofty -- and basically unmet -- in a golf-mad nation where billions in real estate and consumer goods go towards individual attempts at mastery of the game.

Shortly before joining the LPGA, Miyazato was asked at a news conference I attended about overcoming what's called the "Jumbo Ozaki syndrome", an incredibly successful domestic player who just can't seem to win overseas.

British Open proves elementary for Watson, tough on Tiger

It is fair to say we all expected an American with a surname beginning with W to be soaring up the British Open leaderboard but everyone has been shocked that it is 59-year-old senior Tom Watson topping the strong field and not a certain Tiger Woods.

Whilst the world number one toiled in calm conditions at Turnberry’s Ailsa course on Thursday, five-times Open champion Watson was recording a bogey-free five-under-par 65 to take the early clubhouse lead.

“Yesterday and the day before, playing the practice rounds I felt very good about the way I was hitting the ball and the way I was putting the ball,” Watson told reporters. “And it was not much of a surprise for me to go out there and get under par.”

Many will expect the eight-times major winner to fall away and not remain in contention but may I remind you cynics of the performance of another past master, Greg Norman, at last year’s championship at Birkdale. Norman finished third after leading going into the final round.

And it is not just Watson who is proving a torch bearer for the elder members of the golf circuit. Fifty-two year-old twice Open champion Mark O’Meara went out early and fired a solid three-under par 67 to sit alongside 1989 champion Mark Calcavecchia – one year shy of his 50th birthday.

Much of the talk at Turnberry before the championship had been about the chances of young Briton Rory McIlroy and teenaged Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa lifting the Claret Jug but Watson and co have shown them they still have a lot to learn on the South Ayrshire links.

In light of the fact that veteran Kenny Perry, 48, came within a whisker of winning this year’s Masters, only succumbing to eventual winner Angel Cabrera in a play-off, could this be the year the veterans fights back?

from Raw Japan:

Japan’s Tiger in the tank?

What goes up must at some point come down.

The world of sports is full of examples of bright lights who shone briefly before crashing back down to earth.

Tennis burnout used to grind teenage sensations into the dust with alarming regularity, with even all-time greats such as Bjorn Borg stressed into premature retirement, albeit the Swede was 26 when he made his shock decision to quit.

Every sport has them, prodigious talents who flew too close to the sun, destroying their chances of joining the pantheon of mega-greats.

Japanese sports fans are hoping teenage golfer Ryo Ishikawa does not join the growing list, just two months after making his major debut at April’s U.S. Masters.

The 17-year-old has struggled since his fame has soared beyond the confines of Japan, while his face continues to be splashed across commercials for everything from chocolate bars to language schools and celebrities trip over themselves to be photographed next to the Boy Wonder with the ultra-bright smile.

Japan’s Tiger cub Ishikawa needs breathing space

Picture this: You are one of your country’s biggest celebrities, you have signed a multi-million dollar deal with IMG, teenage girls scream when you walk into a room and you have a media circus tripping over each other to follow your every move — before you’re even old enough to drive.

Japan’s teenage golf sensation Ryo Ishikawa has had major companies knocking down his door since he shot to fame in May, 2007 by becoming the youngest winner on the Japanese tour at 15 years and eight months. The schoolboy won his first tournament as a professional last November after joining the paid ranks at the start of 2008, marking his rookie year by becoming the youngest player to crack the 100 million yen (around $1 million) mark in prize money in a single season.

That sum pales compared with the tens of millions of dollars he is projected to earn once he leaves high school and once the Ishikawa bandwagon rolled into Augusta National for the U.S. Masters earlier this month, the whole world wanted to hear what “Japan’s Tiger Woods” (as his country’s excitable press were quick to christen him) thought about playing his first major, American hamburgers and, well, Tiger Woods. “Excited,” “just delicious” and “I respect Tiger” he said in English, grinning from ear to ear.

But after talking about winning a green jacket before he reached 20, the 17-year-old, who began with a creditable 73 on Thursday, failed to make the cut following a five-over-par 77 in the second round.

The weight of expectation on Ishikawa, whose pearly white smile has made him one of Japan’s most recognisable and frequently photographed celebrities, had been enormous. Japanese sportsmaker Yonex had designed a “million dollar driver” for him to take to Augusta after Ishikawa became the youngest player ever invited to play at the Masters.

Already seen as the saviour of Japan’s flagging domestic tour, Ishikawa has a junior golf tournament named after him, recently had a giant ice sculpture of his face carved in his honour at the Sapporo Snow Festival and plans to build replica holes of Augusta National’s course near his home in a bid to emulate his boyhood hero Woods, who has won four Masters titles.