is a Japanese professional golfer. He was elected to 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 g ...

in 2004.

Career

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 The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after ...

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. In 1983, Aoki won the Hawaiian Open on the U.S.-based

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

, the first Japanese and Asian player to win on the tour, and the

Panasonic European Open The European Open is a European Tour golf tournament. Founded in 1978, up to 1994 it was played at various courses in England, including Sunningdale and Walton Heath, except for the 1979 event, which was held at Turnberry in Scotland. Between ...

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 The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for Official World ...

. Aoki is also one of the 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 at the time, Aoki would only finish tied for 12th 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 Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

(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 The McCormack rankings were unofficial world golf rankings published in Mark McCormack's ''World of Professional Golf Annual'' from 1968 to 1985, and were a forerunner of the current Official World Golf Ranking. Unlike their replacement they were ...

, 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. In December 1984 after receiving an invitation from

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

, Aoki traveled to South Africa to participate in the Million Dollar Challenge. Aoki did this in spite of the efforts of the Japanese government to dissuade him from making the trip. As a senior, Aoki has played primarily in the United States on the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

, 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.Fisher Putters Announces Isao Aoki Win at the "2007 Japan Senior Open Championship" using a Fisher F9 Putter
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Professional wins (80)

PGA Tour wins (1)

European Tour wins (1)

Japan Golf Tour wins (51)

''*Note: Tournament shortened to 36/63 holes due to weather.''
¹Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit Japan Golf Tour playoff record (4–9)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

Other wins (8)

* 1971 Kanto Pro Championship (Japan) * 1972 Kanto Pro Championship (Japan) * 1973 Gold Beck * 1977

Jun Classic The Gene Sarazen Jun Classic, sometimes shortened to Jun Classic, was a professional golf tournament that was held in Japan from 1977 to 1999. It was an event on the Japan Golf Tour from 1978. It was named in honour of Gene Sarazen, and played at t ...

* 1978 Colgate World Match Play Championship (England) * 1982 Old Sones Invitational, Daikyo Open * 1987 Fred Meyer Challenge (with

Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won eleven PGA Tour events, including three Men's major golf championships, major championships, the last of which came just a few months before ...

)

Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–4)

Japan Senior PGA Tour wins (9)

* 1994 Japan Senior Open * 1995 American Express Grand Slam, Japan Senior Open * 1996 Japan Senior Open * 1997 Japan Senior Open * 2000 N. Cup Senior Open * 2002 N. Cup Senior Open * 2007 Japan Senior Open * 2008 Kinojo Senior Open

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1977 Open Championship)
"T" = tied

Summary

* Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1988 Masters – 1990 U.S. Open) * Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in senior major championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2012.'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place
''Note: The Senior British Open Championship did not become a major until 2003.''

Team appearances

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Japan):

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

* Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Japan):

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

* Nissan Cup/Kirin Cup (representing Japan): 1985, 1987, 1988 *

UBS Warburg Cup The UBS Cup was a team golf tournament contested by the United States and a team representing the "Rest of the World" which ran from 2001 to 2004. In 2001 and 2002 it was called the UBS Warburg Cup. Six golfers on each side had to be 50 or over, and ...

(representing the Rest of the World): 2001, 2002 * Dynasty Cup (representing Japan): 2003 (non-playing captain), 2005 (non-playing captain)

Honours

* Member of the

(2004) * Medal with Purple Ribbon (2008) * Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2015)

References

External links

* * * * * *
My Philosophy No.74 Isao Aoki , InterLiteracy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aoki, Isao Japanese male golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture People from Abiko, Chiba 1942 births Living people