is a Japanese professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. She won 62 tournaments internationally, including 17 on the U.S.-based

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

. She is a member of the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

Early career

Okamoto was born in

Akitsu, Hiroshima was a town located in Toyota District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 12,023 and a density of 184.74 persons per km². The total area was 65.08 km². On February 7, 2005, Akitsu, along with the ...

, now part of

Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of July 31. 2016 the city has an estimated population of 185,418 and a population density of 291.85 persons per km2. The total area is 635.32 km2. Higashihiroshima is a university town of ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In her youth and early 20s she was a softball player. She was the star pitcher on the Japanese national champion in 1971. Her club team was owned by the textile company Daiwabo, where Okamoto worked. The company owned a golf facility next door, and when she was 22, Okamoto finally decided to start playing. Although she pitched left-handed, she learned golf right-handed. She would join the

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the most important women's tour, but ...

in 1973. Just three years later, at age 25, she won the Mizuno Corporation Tournament. In 1979 (at age 28) Okamoto won the

Japan LPGA Championship , is the one of the longest running tournament in the history of the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association, surpassed only by Japan Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA of Japan Tour. Winners See also *Japan Golf Associa ...

, and in 1981 she won eight times in Japan and topped the LPGA of Japan money list.

LPGA career

Okamoto was a superstar in Japan, but she decided to branch out and joined the American

in 1981. From 1982 through 1992, Okamoto won 17 times, her first coming at the 1982

Arizona Copper Classic The Welch's/Fry's Championship was a golf tournament for professional female golfers that was part of the LPGA Tour from 1981 to 2004. It was played at the Randolph Golf Course in Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknam ...

. Okamoto was a consistent winner on the LPGA Tour, claiming four wins in 1987 (plus four runners-up and 17 top-10s) and three wins each in 1984 and 1988. In 1987, she led the tour's money list and earned the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award, the first non-American to do either. The only thing Okamoto did not do in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

was win a major. She finished as runner-up six times in major championships. Her best opportunities came in 1986, when she lost a sudden death playoff to Pat Bradley at the

du Maurier Classic The CP Women's Open (french: Open féminin du Canada) is a women's professional golf tournament managed by Golf Canada. It has been Canada's national championship tournament since its founding in 1973 LPGA Tour, 1973, and is an official event on ...

and in 1987 when she lost an 18-hole playoff to

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

for the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

crown (

JoAnne Carner JoAnne Gunderson Carner (born April 4, 1939) is an American former professional golfer. Her 43 victories on the LPGA Tour led to her induction in the World Golf Hall of Fame. She is the only woman to have won the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women ...

was also in the playoff). She was in the top-10 at the Open every year from 1983 to 1987, and in the top-10 at the

LPGA Championship The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...

every year from 1984 to 1991. Okamoto's last LPGA victory was in 1992, and 1993 was her last year to play a full or half schedule in the U.S. Okamoto returned to Japan after 1993, where she played until 2005. In addition to her 17 LPGA wins, Okamoto also won 44 times on the LPGA of Japan Tour, and twice on the Ladies European Tour. She was voted into the

on the International ballot and entered in 2005.

Professional wins (62)

LPGA Tour wins (17)

''Note: Okamoto won the Hitachi Ladies British Open (now known as the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a women's major golf championships, major championship in Professional golf tours#Women's tours, women's professional go ...

) before it became a major championship.'' LPGA Tour playoff record (2–4) LPGA majors are shown in bold.

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (44)

*1975 (1) Mizuno Golf *1976 (1) All-Star *1977 (4) World Ladies, Tohoku Queens, Asahi Toys, Japan Ladies Professional East vs. West *1978 (1) KTV Ladies Classic *1979 (2)

Tokai Classic The is a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. It was founded in 1970 and is played at the Miyoshi Country Club (West Course), Miyoshi, Aichi is a city located in central Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated pop ...

*1980 (3) Kumamoto Chuo Ladies, Hokuriku Queens, Saikai National Park Ladies Open *1981 (8) Sanin Ladies Golf, KBS Ladies, Fuji Ladies Classic, Hokuriku Queens, Stanley Ladies, Japan Ladies Professional East vs West, Miyagi TV Women's Open, Sanyo Queens *1982 (4) Tohato Ladies, Dunlop Ladies,

*1983 (1) Sanyo Queens *1984 (1) Tsumura Itsuki Classic *1986 (1) Nichirei Ladies Cup *1987 (1) Konica Cup *1989 (2)

, Itoki Classic *1990 (1)

*1991 (3) Yamaha Cup Ladies, Karuizawa 72 Tokyu Ladies Open, Kosaido Asahi Cup *1992 (2) Tohato Ladies,

Fujisankei Ladies Classic The Fujisankei Ladies Classic is an annual golf event on the LPGA of Japan Tour. It was first played in 1982. The tournament was held at the Fivehundred Club in Shizuoka from 1982 to 1995 then at the Fujizakura CC from 1996 to 2003. In 2004 the ven ...

*1993 (2)

Japan Women's Open Golf Championship The is Japan's national women's open golf championship. From 2006 (as of 2011) it is one of the two richest tournaments on the LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professi ...

, Itoen Ladies *1994 (3) Tohato Ladies, Itoki Classic, Kosaido Asahi Cup *1996 (1)

*1997 (1)

*1999 (1) Katokichi Queens Tournament in bold denotes major championships on LPGA of Japan Tour.

Ladies European Tour wins (2)

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

(1)

Hitachi Ladies British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour ...

(co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour) *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

(1) Lufthansa Ladies' German Open

Results in LPGA Majors

CUT = missed the half-way cut.
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary

*Starts – 52 *Wins – 0 *2nd-place finishes – 6 *3rd-place finishes – 4 *Top 3 finishes – 10 *Top 5 finishes – 12 *Top 10 finishes – 21 *Top 25 finishes – 30 *Missed cuts – 4 *Most consecutive cuts made – 24 *Longest streak of top-10s – 7

External links

* * *
Ayako Okamoto bio at golfcompendium.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okamoto, Ayako Japanese female golfers LPGA Tour golfers LPGA of Japan Tour golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Hiroshima Prefecture 1951 births Living people