If Ryo Ishikawa is the new face of men's golf in Japan, expect many, many more women to start following the game — and Ishikawa, when he tees off in the first round of the Hawai'i Pearl Open today.

The 16-year-old became a fullblown idol in Japan last May when he won the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup. A former national junior high school champion, he had never played a Japan Golf Tour Organization event before, but didn't blink while firing a final-round 66.

Japan has been transfixed since. When Ishikawa announced he was turning professional last month in Tokyo, reportedly with $10 million in endorsements, some 300 media were there.

After he decided to make his professional debut here, Pearl Open organizers had more than 40 media requests — three times as many as ever before. The Golf Channel added a special plea for results. Ishikawa is followed constantly by adoring fans, reporters and clicking cameras. He appears completely comfortable in the midst of the madness.

"The media is very important," Ishikawa said in one of his few English-speaking comments yesterday. "Thanks to them, golf is known in the world."

There were 35 at Ishikawa's press conference here, most from Japan. He walked in early and sought out the American media to tell them he would try to speak English. He pointed to the flowing handwriting in the school notebook he was studying.

A few minutes later, he sat silently for more than a minute, closed his eyes, and looked up in apology. "I've got to speak Japanese," he said, breaking into a huge grin.

Ishikawa was 15 years, 8 months old when he won last year. That shattered Seve Ballesteros' record for youngest to win a Japan pro tour event by some five years. Ishikawa also shattered many, many hearts.

The "Bashful Prince" is too old to be cute and too young to be hot, but he has "the look" down from his charmingly dimpled smile to the cuffs of his bright pink pants and the sunglass switch in mid-practice. He backs it up with an innate kindness that seems to have made him more popular with middle-aged women than those his own age, and a golf game that begins with booming drives.

"All the 50-year-old women like him because he's so nice and polite," said Hawai'i Golf Hall of Famer David Ishii, one of the best players in the history of the JGTO. "Their husbands like him because they want to be him."

Ishikawa is, apparently, precisely what golf craves in Japan as the men's game struggles to catch up to the more popular women's game. Television ratings spiked in the eight pro events he played as an amateur last year. Ishikawa tacked on a 15th-place finish to the win on his short resume.

"It's hard for me to say I'm going to change the Japanese men's tour," Ishikawa said. "But if even one person thinks I can change Japanese men's golf I will try my best to be that person."

As a JGTO champion, he is fully exempt on the tour, which gives him a home-course edge over Hawai'i's Tadd Fujikawa, who won the Pearl Open last year as a 16-year-old after capturing the golf world's imagination with a 20th-place finish at the Sony Open in Hawai'i. Fujikawa also turned pro but has to seek sponsor exemptions all over the world to play.

Ishikawa plans to play 15 JGTO tournaments this year while he attends high school. Pearl fit perfectly because he is in the midst of a school break, and has a sweet spot for paradise. "I love Hawai'i, I feel very confident here, very welcome and happy to be here."

He finished 13th here last year, seven shots behind Fujikawa. He knows his game is better now. Ishikawa said his prime reason for turning pro was because it gave him the best opportunity to improve and while he never came close to a boast, he did admit the thought of successive 16-year-olds winning here was not that far-fetched.

"I'm not saying I can win," he said, "but I'm very confident I'm better than last year. I believe in myself. ... At 16, if I did win, it would be unforgettable."

Ishikawa's goal is to play in The Masters, and to become a "wonderful player like Tiger Woods."

"I just love Tiger Woods," he said. "If I have a chance to play with him I don't want to miss it. I don't want to miss any chances. The Japanese always say don't hurry, don't rush. I'm the opposite. I rush ... shortcut, shortcut."

NOTES

Of the 104 golfers who attempted to qualify Tuesday, only four broke par. The top 15 advanced, with 12-year-old Masamichi Ito and 13-year-old Yuto Soeda losing out in a match of cards after finishing in a seven-way tie for 11th at 74. Soeda has since moved into the field and Ito, who missed qualifying by three strokes last year, has a good shot at it as first alternate.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.