Tournament article

Casio World Open Golf Tournament 2019

Ryo Ishikawa fights back strong against the tough course and also his flu

Ryo Ishikawa made a great jump on Moving Saturday to keep his chance for the Order of Merit race. Ryo now sits at No.5 of the Money Rankings, and it is a must that he wins both of the reaming tournaments in order to overtake the No.1 position. He did stumble today by making a double bogey on 11th, but he closed the day with 4 straight birdies to finish at total 10 under, 5 shots behind the leader. He still has some chance remaining tomorrow.

Ryo caught a flu from yesterday, and he pass the after round interview due to illness. But today he took time to answer to the media.
"My flu is getting worse every day, but as you seen it's not effecting my game and I also don't want to make excuses."

On Par 3 11th, his 2nd shot from the sand got stuck at the edge of the bunker. His 3rd shot from the also failed to reach the green, so he got in on 4th shot and 2 putted for double bogey. This costed him to plunge down to 6 under, but from 15th, he got on the roll to make a great comeback.

After making 3-meter on 15th, he went for the reachable Par 4 16th by 1W to 13-meter to the pin. His eagle try failed but made a easy birdie. On 17th, his 2nd shot from 128 yards with a wedge darted the pin. He also showed a great short game on final 18th and closed the day with 4 consecutive birdies.
"After I made that double bogey, my chose to go aggressive. No limiter no breaks. It made me feel that I must go for it."

Ryo has finished as runner-up 3 times (2009, 2015 and 2017). He has made a sponsor contract with the Host Sponsor of this tournament Casio in 2013, and since then his urge for the victory at this tournament grew bigger.
"I think I gave myself a chance tomorrow. I am glad to finish the round today as I did. I still have a slight chance left for me. I want to do better tomorrow and finish with at higher position on the leader board."