Isao Aoki

Isao Aoki
青木 功
— Golfer —
Personal information
Born (1942-08-31) 31 August 1942
Abiko, Chiba
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg)
Nationality  Japan
Career
College None
Turned professional 1964
Current tour(s) Champions Tour
Former tour(s) Japan Golf Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins 78
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 1
European Tour 1
Japan Golf Tour 51 (2nd all-time)
PGA Tour Champions 9
Other 16
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T16: 1985
U.S. Open 2nd: 1980
The Open Championship T7: 1978, 1979, 1988
PGA Championship T4: 1981
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2004 (member page)
Japan Golf Tour
leading money winner		 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981

Isao Aoki (青木 功 Aoki Isao, born 31 August 1942) is a Japanese professional golfer. 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 turned professional 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 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.[1]

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 is also one of nine players in the history of the Open Championship 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, Aoki would only finish in tied 12th spot 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 (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 debuted in 1986, he was ranked in the top-10 for several weeks in 1987.[2]

In December 1984 after receiving an invitation from Gary Player, Aoki traveled to South Africa to participate in the Million Dollar Challenge. Aoki did this in spite of Japanese government efforts to dissuade him from making the trip.[3]

As a senior, Aoki has played mainly 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 where he shot his age, 65, during his most recent triumph in 2007.[4]

Professional wins (77)

Japan Golf Tour wins (51)

The lists from the PGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame sites, contain 52 wins, the 1974 Kanto Open is missing from those. His profile on the Japan Golf Tour site says he has 51 wins from 1973 (the official start of the tour).

PGA Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of victoryRunner-up
1 13 Feb 1983 Hawaiian Open −20 (66-70-65-67=268) 1 stroke United States Jack Renner

European Tour wins (1)

Other wins (7)

Champions Tour wins (9)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 27 Sep 1992 Nationwide Championship −8 (70-66=136) 1 stroke United States Raymond Floyd
2 18 Sep 1994 Bank One Senior Classic −14 (69-64-69=202) 3 strokes United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez
3 25 Sep 1994 Brickyard Crossing Championship −11 (66-67=133) 1 stroke United States Jimmy Powell, United States Tom Wargo
4 27 Aug 1995 Bank of Boston Senior Classic −12 (69-66-69=204) 1 stroke New Zealand Bob Charles, United States Hale Irwin
5 26 May 1996 BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland −14 (64-68-70=202) 1 stroke Australia Graham Marsh, United States Jay Sigel
6 30 Jun 1996 Kroger Senior Classic −15 (63-69-66=198) 1 stroke United States Mike Hill, United States Rocky Thompson
7 28 Sep 1997 Emerald Coast Classic −14 (71-60-65=196) Playoff United States Gil Morgan
8 14 Jun 1998 BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland −18 (62-66-70=198) 2 strokes United States Larry Nelson
9 19 May 2002 The Instinet Classic −15 (69-67-65=201) 4 strokes United States John Jacobs

Champions Tour playoff record (1–4)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1994 The Transamerica United States Kermit Zarley Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2 1995 The Tradition United States Jack Nicklaus Lost to birdie on third extra hole
3 1997 Emerald Coast Classic United States Gil Morgan Won with par on second extra hole
4 1998 Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic United States Leonard Thompson Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5 2000 State Farm Senior Classic United States Leonard Thompson Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Japan Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
Masters Tournament CUT CUT DNP T28 CUT T34 CUT T45 CUT 19 T25 T16 CUT CUT T25 DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T36 2 T11 T30 DNP T16 DNP DNP T14 T50 T33 T33
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP CUT T7 T7 T12 T11 T20 DNP T47 DNP DNP DNP T7 DNP CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP T4 T49 CUT CUT DNP T36 CUT T38 T17 T40

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 4 14 7
U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 1 4 9 9
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 3 6 9 7
PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 1 2 10 6
Totals 0 1 0 2 5 16 42 29

Results in senior majors

Results are not in chronological order before 2012.

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Senior PGA Championship 3 T5 T5 2 T20 T44 T15 T62 T20 CUT
The Tradition 6 T9 2 T12 2 T13 T28 DNP T47 T35
Senior Players Championship T5 T3 6 T30 T2 3 T14 T18 T17 21
U.S. Senior Open T20 10 T3 11 T49 T4 CUT T47 T2 T18
Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Senior PGA Championship CUT T27 T62 T28 CUT CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP
The Tradition T20 T53 T32 T67 T71 DNP T57 64 DNP DNP
Senior Players Championship T12 T28 T18 52 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Senior Open T30 DNP DNP T45 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Senior British Open Championship T14 T22 T36 T60 CUT 50 CUT DQ CUT CUT

Note: The Senior British Open Championship did not become a major until 2003.
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Honours

See also

References

  1. ↑ All-time money list on the Japan Tour
  2. ↑ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
  3. ↑ Aoki to play in South Africa
  4. ↑ Fisher Putters Announces Isao Aoki Win at the "2007 Japan Senior Open Championship" using a Fisher F9 Putter
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