The Loop

Ryo earns British Open berth

June 28, 2009

Ryo Ishikawa, the Japanese star who has yet to do anything on the international stage to warrant such billing, nonetheless has earned a spot in the British Open next month by winning the Japan Golf Tour's Mizuno Open.

Ishikawa, 17, had missed the cut in three of four PGA Tour starts, and finished 71st in the other, the Transitions Championship. He had fallen to 103rd in the World Golf Ranking prior to winning the Mizuno, his third Japan Golf Tour victory.

Say this for Ishikawa: He apparently is unflappable. En route to winning, he opened a five-stroke lead that he relinquished in its entirety on the par-4 12th hole by hitting two shots out of bounds and taking a quintuple-bogey 9. He rebounded with an eagle at the 16th hole and a birdie at 18 to win by three.

-- John Strege