Isao Aoki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Isao Aoki (é’æœšćŠŸ Aoki Isao?, born 31 August 1942) is one of Japan's most successful golfers. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

Aoki was born in Abiko, Chiba, Japan. He was introduced to golf while caddying at the Abiko Golf Club as a schoolboy. He turn pro in 1964. He went on to win more than fifty events on the Japan Golf Tour between 1972 and 1990, trailing only Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki on the golfers with most Japan Golf Tour wins list. He won the Japan Golf Tour money list five times in six years: 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981. He is sixth on the career money list (through 2006).

In 1983, Aoki won the Hawaiian Open on the U.S. based PGA Tour and the Panasonic European Open on the European Tour. He also won the prestigious World Match Play Championship in England in 1978, which was not a European Tour event at that time, and picked up a win on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Aoki played 165 times on the PGA Tour between 1974 and 1999, primarily from 1981 to 1990. His best finish in a major championship was a second place finish to Jack Nicklaus (by two strokes) in the 1980 U.S. Open. That finish, combined with his recent record in Japan and around the globe, meant that Aoki would finish 1980 ranked third in the unofficial McCormack's World Golf Rankings, a position he would hold at the end of 1981.

As a senior, Aoki has played mainly on in the United States on the Champions Tour, winning nine times between 1992 and 2003. He has six senior victories outside the United States, including four victories in the Japan Senior Open.

Contents

  • 1971 (1) Kanto Pro
  • 1972 (1) Kanto Pro
  • 1973 (5) Chuncihi Crowns, Pepsi Wilson, Sapporo Tokyu Open, KBC Augusta, Japan PGA Championship
  • 1974 (3) Tozai Taiko, Kanto Pro, Sanpo Classic
  • 1975 (2) Chunichi Crowns, Kanto Open
  • 1976 (1) Tokai Classic
  • 1977 (2) Tohoku Classic, Jun Classic
  • 1978 (5) Chunichi Crowns, Japan Pro Match Play, Sapporo Tokyu, Kanto Pro, Golf Nippon Series
  • 1979 (4) Chunichi Crowns, Japan Pro Match Play, Kanto Open, Golf Nippon Series
  • 1980 (5) Chunichi Crowns, Yomiuri Open, KBC Augusta, Kanto Open, Jun Classic
  • 1981 (3) Shizuoka Open, Japan Pro Match Play, Japan PGA Championship
  • 1982 (2) Japan Pro Match Play, Daikyo Open
  • 1983 (4) Sapporo Tokyu Open, Kanto Pro, Japan Open, Golf Nippon Series
  • 1986 (4) Sapporo Tokyu Open, Japan PGA Championship, KBC Augusta, Kanto Open
  • 1987 (4) Dunlop International Open, All Nippon Airline Open, Japan Open, Golf Nippon Series (tie with David Ishii)
  • 1989 (2) Tokai Classic, Casio World Open
  • 1990 (1) Mitsubishi Galant Tournament
  • 1991 (1) Bridgestone Open
  • 1992 (2) Mitsubishi Galant Tournament, Casio World Open

This list, from the PGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame sites, contains 52 wins. His profile on the Japan Golf Tour site says he has 51 wins from 1973 (the official start of the tour) but only details wins from 1985 on. There appears to be one win missing from the years 1973-1984.

  • 1992 Nationwide Championship
  • 1994 Bank One Senior Classic, Brickyard Crossing Championship
  • 1995 Bank of Boston Senior Classic
  • 1996 BellSouth Senior, Kroger Senior Classic
  • 1997 Emerald Coast Classic
  • 1998 BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland
  • 2002 The Instinet Classic

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