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Rising Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa couldn’t believe his ears when the phone call inviting him to play in the US Masters came through.
The 17-year-old received a special invite to line up at Augusta National and he’ll be the second youngest player ever to compete in the season’s first major.
“I got the call last night, but of course everything was in English so I couldn’t understand it that well. I could understand the words ‘Masters’ and ‘invitation’ and that’s when I knew what was happening to me!”
Just over a year ago, Ryo announced his decision to turn professional at 16 years 3 months and 24 days. He revealed: “I want to play with Tiger [Woods] and I would like to win the Masters.”
Although he is still a high school student, he won his maiden title as professional at the 2008 MYNAVI ABC Championship and became the youngest player to ever win more than $1.1 million on the Japan Golf Tour.
He finished his rookie season with six top 10s and finished 5th on 2008 Japan Golf Tour’s Order of Merit.
“It’s always been my dream to play in the Masters, so this is a dream come true for me. I am so excited that I am actually going there. I will try not to be nervous on the first tee.All I can do is go there and just play my best,” he said.
