Ishii seeks momentum at Hawai'i State Open

By Bill Kwon

Don't blame David Ishii if he can't remember when he last won the Hawai'i State Open. After all, it has been a while. He did it in back-to-back fashion in 1984 and 1985 when the tournament was moved from the Ala Wai Golf Course to Makaha West for those two years.

David Ishii is using the Hawai'i State Open to prepare for qualifying on the Japan professional tour. Advertiser library photo

Don't let Ishii kid you. At 49, he's still very competitive, even if he's not as long off the tee as the majority of today's young guns.

Back home from his 23rd year on the Japan professional golf tour where he ranks eighth on the all-time money list, Ishii hopes to enjoy a blast from the past in this year's Prince Resorts Hawai'i State Open starting tomorrow at the Hawai'i Prince Golf Course in 'Ewa Beach.

Ishii likes his chances despite going against an outstanding professional field that includes defending champion Kris Moe, three-time champion Kevin Hayashi, Regan Lee, a three-time reigning Mid-Pacific Open winner, and Brian Sasada, the Aloha Section PGA 2004 player of the year.

Among the leading amateurs are former University of Hawai'i golfer Matt Kodama, the Hawai'i State Amateur champion who recently won the Turtle Bay Amateur, Brandan Kop, Jonathan Ota and Del-Marc Fujita.

"I want to play well. I played a little better at the end (of the Japan season)," Ishii said. "If I play all right, I might be in contention."

There's an added incentive for Ishii to get his game up to speed.

"The state open will be a good tuneup," said Ishii, who leaves Monday night to play in the Casio Open before going to the final stage of the Japan Golf Tour Organization's Qualifying School scheduled Dec. 1 to 6. (Regan Lee also advanced, successfully surviving the Q-School's third stage last week.)

It will be a new experience for Ishii, who never has had to qualify to play on the Japan Tour before. He had played on sponsor's exemptions after a victory in the 1980 JAL Rainbow Open which got him an invitation to the KBC Augusta that year. His showing led to other exemptions.

Ishii gained full exempt status after winning the 1985 Tohoku Classic, the first of his 14 victories on the Japan tour where he has earned more than $8 million.

However, his play has steadily declined since 1994 when he posted his last two victories in the Maruman Open and the Suntory Open.

"I played a little better than last year. I made more cuts than I did the year before," said Ishii, who's currently 108th on the 2004 money list.

His best finishes in 22 events were 27th in the Suntory Open and 28th in the Bridgestone Open.

Thus, it's time for Q-School. But Ishii does have an escape clause to fall back on. He's still assured of playing on the Japan tour next year by using a one-time exemption based on his top-25 career money earnings.

"I'll use it if I don't make the qualifying," Ishii said. Then again, he might not have to, depending on what order he finishes in the Q-School.

"Everybody gets a number. The better your number (the higher you finish), the more tournaments you can play in the early part of the year," Ishii said.

He could go that route and still not use his one-time exemption. The reason for that exit strategy?

Ishii, who turns 50 on July 26, plans on going to the Champions Tour qualifying school next fall where he's allowed a one-time exemption directly to the final stage because of winning a PGA Tour event — the 1990 United Airlines Hawaiian Open.

"I guess it's (the Japan Q-School) good practice for the senior tour one," said Ishii, who could then use his one-time Japan exemption to return to the Japan tour in 2006 if he fails to make it out of the senior Q-school.

He said it will be more difficult since only seven will qualify out of that school for the Champions Tour. The number will be even fewer in future years because more and more PGA Tour stars will become eligible without having to qualify.

With Greg Norman, Curtis Strange, Loren Roberts and Scott Simpson all turning 50 next year, the senior tour is becoming more like the regular tour in terms of name recognition, according to Ishii.

There's nothing comparable for seniors in Japan. The Champions Tour is a veritable bank machine. Just ask Hale Irwin, the all-time money leader among the seniors.

Irwin is an idol of sorts for Ishii.

"He's not a long hitter either," Ishii said.

Mentally, he might have had a forgivable memory lapse or two.

Ishii forgot that he beat Simpson to win in 1984. But he vividly recalled the first Hawai'i State Open he won four years earlier. That was at the Ala Wai, capping his first year as a professional when he also won the Pearl Open and the JAL Rainbow Open.

It readily comes to mind, unfortunately, because just a week or two before the Open, his father, Chica Ishii, died.

Ishii also remembered who caddied for him: A 14-year-old junior star named Beau Yokomoto, who is one of the pros trying to beat him this week.

It's something that Yokomoto, now 38, also hasn't forgotten.

"All the junior golfers looked up to David. I wanted to caddy for him because it was a great opportunity to watch Hawai'i's best player," Yokomoto said.

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.