Ishikawa, 17, readies for PGA TOUR debut this week

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Typically represented by one of the more international playing fields near the beginning of each PGA TOUR season, the Northern Trust Open roster has been infused by the awarding of a Commissioner's Foreign Exemption to 17-year-old Japanese prodigy Ryo Ishikawa, currently the world's second-highest ranked Japanese golfer at No. 64.

Ishikawa

Ishikawa is set to make his PGA TOUR debut at the Northern Trust Open, Feb. 16-22, at Riviera Country Club.

Ishikawa is being heralded as Japan's next great hope for world golf glory. The Saitama-born teenager won his Japan Golf Tour debut as an amateur in May 2007, when he won the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup at the age of 15 years, 8 months.

The next youngest Japan Golf Tour winner is Seve Ballesteros, who won the 1977 Japan Open at 20 years, 7 months.

Ishikawa turned professional in 2008 and won his second Japan Golf Tour event in November at the Mmynavi ABC Championship.

Nicknamed 'Hanikami Oji' (literally translated as 'Bashful Prince') in Japan, Ishikawa owns three professional victories, having also won the 2008 Kansai Open. By the close of 2008, he had become the youngest ever golfer included to break into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

"Ryo Ishikawa attracts `Tiger-like' attention in Asia, and it will be fun for a U.S. audience to see him for the first time at the Northern Trust Open, while fans throughout the world watch him compete against the PGA TOUR's best players," said Northern Trust Open Tournament Director Tom Pulchinski.

By the time Ishikawa tees it up in the first round at the Northern Trust Open, he will be 17 years, 5 months and 2 days of age. Four players have made a PGA TOUR cut at the age of 17 years or younger. The youngest player to win a PGA TOUR event is Johnny McDermott, who won the 1911 U.S. Open at 19 years, 10 months.

The Northern Trust Open will be televised in the United States on GOLF CHANNEL (Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET) and CBS (Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, 3-6:30 p.m.). In Japan, early rounds will be telecast on Jupiter Golf Network, with final rounds on NHK.