Openflows Golf Journal

Tiny ‘Tiger’ puts swing back in Japanese golf

Wednesday March 30th 2005, 8:39 am
Filed under: General, Tournaments

Here’s a great story about a young woman in Japan who is inspiring others to become interested in the game of golf. To quote from the article:

TOKYO, March 30 (Reuters) - With commentators calling her a new Tiger Woods, teenager Ai Miyazato is starting to have a similar revolutionary effect on golf’s image in Japan.

After turning professional and earning more than a million dollars last year, 19-year-old Miyazato led her teammate Rui Kitada to victory in the inaugural Women’s World Cup of Golf in South Africa in February.

The 154 cm (five foot) golfer from Japan’s southernmost island of Okinawa is not short on talent, but her popularity is not based on the speed of her swing.

Miyazato has succeeded in making golf look like fun again.

“I think the best part of my game is that I am really enjoying my golf,” she told journalists in Tokyo on Wednesday, when asked about her strengths. “That’s very important and I don’t want to forget it.”

Though she finished last year as number two in Japan, the teen sensation already outflanks the much-loved Woods in terms of popularity on her home turf and pulls in higher ratings for her televised games.

Miyazato comes from a golfing family — her two brothers are also golfers — and she pays tribute to her coach father for years of advice on positive thinking as well as to Japan’s number one player, Yuri Fudo, for showing her the value of practice.