Miyazato Ai (宮里 藍 Miyazato Ai?, born 19 June1985 in Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan) is a professional Ryukyuan golfer who currently competes on the US-based LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour (JLPGA) As an amateur in 2003, she won a professional event on the Japan LPGA Tour – the Dunlop Ladies Open in Miyagi Prefecture, which is where she was attending high school at the time. In her 2004 rookie season on the JLPGA Tour she won five tournaments. In February 2005, she represented Japan along with Rui Kitada winning the inaugural Women's World Cup of Golf. In 2005, she won six events on the JLPGA tour, and was the #2 ranked player on the JLPGA Tour behind Yuri Fudoh. In winning the Japan Open Championship at age twenty in 2005, Miyazato became the youngest player on the JLPGA Tour to win a major. Furthering the notion that Miyazato has revived the JLPGA Tour after the retirement of Ayako Okamoto, over 32,000 people (the largest gallery ever to attend a JLPGA event) witnessed the final day of that tournament. She dominated the U.S. LPGA Q-School and secured her tour card, enabling her to compete in the 2006 season. She finished under par for five of the six qualifying rounds, and finished 12 strokes ahead of the closest competitor, setting a record for the largest margin of victory on December 4, 2005. Back in Japan, on December 15, she played the opening rounds of the Okinawa Open, becoming the first Japanese woman to compete in a domestic men's professional event, although she failed to make the cut for the final rounds. She has endorsements deals with Suntory, Bridgestone, Japan Airlines, Oakley, Paradiso & Hisamitsu among others. Her older brother, Yūsaku Miyazato is also a professional golfer.
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Professional wins (15)
JLPGA (15)
- 2003 (1) Dunlop Ladies Open
- 2004 (5) Daikin Ladies Open, Suntory Ladies Open, Circle K Sunkus Ladies Open, Masters GC Ladies, Daio Paper Open
- 2005 (6) Vernal Ladies, Bridgestone Women's Open, New Caterpillar Mitsubishi Ladies Open, Japan Open Championship, IDC Otsuka Ladies, Daio Paper Open
- 2006 (3) Japan LPGA Championship, Dunlop Ladies Open
Results in LPGA majors
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | DNP | T44 | T29 | T15 |
| LPGA Championship | DNP | DNP | T3 | CUT |
| U.S. Women's Open | DNP | CUT | T28 | T10 |
| Women's British Open | CUT | T11 | 9 | T58 |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Green background for a win. Yellow background for a top-10 finish.
Prize money
Year JLPGA Prize Money
Career total ¥ 297,015,521 (41) (Note: these amounts do not include LPGA prize money such as the $482,203 (approximately ¥56,000,000) earned in 2006 as of September 10)
External links
- LPGA profile - in English
- Miyazato Ai's Homepage - in Japanese
- LPGA of Japan profile - in Japanese
