石川 遼 - Ryo Ishikawa: The Field's Youngest Gun

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Early one morning a couple of weeks ago,  a lone golfer was observed on the range at Dove Mountain, hitting balls in the chill desert air.  It was Ryo Ishikawa.  GolfWeek writer Jim McCabe described the scene, including the gaggle of photographers sprawled on the frosty grass nearby, dutifully doing their job.

Ryo is back on the scene this week for the star-studded  WGC Cadillac Championship  and at 19 he's the youngest in the field.  As expected, he's adding characteristic color to the proceedings.  At today's practice round he wore multi-chromatic Yonex stripes.  Always observant Ishikawa fan Noriko Imada, sent me a link to the photo above just a few minutes ago.

On Thursday Ryo will be part of what's sure to be a popular pairing.  He'll be playing with Rickie Fowler... who compliments him perfectly... and for the first time with rookie wonder, Jhonattan Vegas.  Señor Vegas revealed in an interview earlier today that he was having trouble getting used to all the media attention he'd been getting of late.  His Japanese playing partner could certainly to give him some advice on that topic. Let's hope they discuss it.

BTW, did you know there was a Magazine in Japan that's exclusively about Ryo.  Issue after issue, it's pure "Hanikami Ōji"... and even if your Japanese reading skills aren't quite up to par, it features fantastic photos and whimsical graphics. found out about it from another huge fan, @pipaatgreen ... who you should definitely follow if you're into Ishikawa.

The youthful trio tees off at 12:33 on Thursday.