is a Japanese professional golfer. He was elected to the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...

in 2004.

Early life

Aoki was born in

Abiko, Chiba file:Abiko city hall.JPG, 260px, Abiko City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 131,183 in 62,193 households and a population density of 3000 persons per km2. The total area ...

, Japan. He was introduced to golf while caddying at the Abiko Golf Club as a schoolboy.

Professional career

In 1964, Aoki turned professional. He went on to win more than fifty events on the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

between 1972 and 1990, trailing only Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki on the list of golfers with most Japan Golf Tour wins. He won the Japan Golf Tour money list five times in six years: 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981. His career earnings are 980 million yen. In 1983, Aoki won the Hawaiian Open on the U.S.-based

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, the first Japanese and Asian player to win on the tour, and the Panasonic European Open on the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

. 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 The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf ...

. Aoki is also one of the nine players in the history of the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

to shoot a round of just 63 shots (which he achieved in the third round of the 1980 event). Despite this being the joint-best round in the history of the tournament at the time, Aoki would only finish tied for 12th that year. 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 Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

(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. After the

Official World Golf Rankings The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

debuted in 1986, he was ranked in the top-10 for several weeks in 1987. In December 1984 after receiving an invitation from

Gary Player Gary James Player (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and nine ...

, Aoki traveled to South Africa to participate in the Million Dollar Challenge. Aoki did this in spite of the efforts of the Japanese government to dissuade him from making the trip. As a senior, Aoki has played primarily in the United States on the Champions Tour, winning nine times between 1992 and 2003. He has eight senior victories outside the United States, including five victories in the

Japan Senior Open The Japan Senior Open Golf Championship is one of the major championships in Japanese men's senior golf. It is administered by the Japan Golf Association (JGA) and is recognised as a major championship by the PGA of Japan Senior Tour. It was found ...

where he shot his age, 65, during his most recent triumph in 2007.

Professional wins (80)

PGA Tour wins (1)

European Tour wins (1)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (51)

''*Note: Tournament shortened to 36/63 holes due to weather.''
¹Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (4–9)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

Other wins (8)

* 1971 Kanto Pro Championship (Japan) * 1972 Kanto Pro Championship (Japan) * 1973 Gold Beck * 1977 Jun Classic * 1978 Colgate World Match Play Championship (England) * 1982 Old Sones Invitational, Daikyo Open * 1987 Fred Meyer Challenge (with

Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acciden ...

)

Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

''*Note: Tournament shortened to 36 holes due to weather.'' Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–4)

Japan Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

* 1994

* 1995 American Express Grand Slam,

* 1996

* 1997

* 2000 N. Cup Senior Open * 2002 N. Cup Senior Open * 2007

* 2008 Kinojo Senior Open

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1977 Open Championship)
"T" = tied

Summary

* Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1988 Masters – 1990 U.S. Open) * Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in senior major championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2012.'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place
''Note: The Senior British Open Championship did not become a major until 2003.''

Team appearances

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Japan):

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

Alfred Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championsh ...

(representing Japan):

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* Nissan Cup/Kirin Cup (representing Japan): 1985, 1987, 1988 * UBS Warburg Cup (representing the Rest of the World): 2001, 2002 * Dynasty Cup (representing Japan): 2003 (non-playing captain), 2005 (non-playing captain)

Honours

* Member of the

(2004) * Medal with Purple Ribbon (2008) * Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2015) *

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honour which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

(2024)

References

External links

* * * * * *
My Philosophy No.74 Isao Aoki , InterLiteracy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aoki, Isao Japanese male golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Persons of Cultural Merit Golfers from Chiba Prefecture People from Abiko, Chiba 1942 births Living people 20th-century Japanese sportsmen