is a Japanese

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Early life and amateur career

Sonoda was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He was first trained by his father. After that he has been taught by golf teaching pro, Todd Baker, since he was 10 years old. When Sonoda visited

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with his family at age 13, he decided to study in Gold Coast because the town has many golf courses. He spent two years in a junior high school there to pursue his golf game further. He won the Japan National Junior Golf Championship. He decided to return Japan to enter the Suginami-Gakuin High School. He was a high school teammate of

Ryo Ishikawa , also known by the nickname , is a Japanese professional golfer. Amateur career On 20 May 2007, Ishikawa became the youngest winner ever of a men's regular tournament on the Japan Golf Tour by winning the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup at the age 15 ...

. Ishikawa calls him "King" as he swept all the junior tournaments. They first met in elementary school. In his sophomore year at the

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

, he qualified for

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 th ...

Professional career

Sonoda began playing on the

in 2010 and won the 2010

Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic The is a professional golf tournament played in Japan. Founded in 1971, it has been a Japan Golf Tour event since 1979. Since 1998, the event has been prefixed , with the top finishers gaining exemptions into The Open Championship. The Mizuno Ope ...

. This victory earned him an exemption into the

2010 Open Championship The 2010 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and was held from 15 to 18 July over the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was the 150th anniversary of the founding of The Open in 1860, and the 28th time The Open was p ...

Professional wins (3)

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

''*Note: The 2010 Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.'' Japan Golf Tour playoff record (0–2)

Other wins (1)

*2008 Sponichi Cup (as an amateur)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

(representing Japan):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Professional *

Royal Trophy The Royal Trophy was a men's professional team golf tournament which was played between 2006 and 2013. The competing teams represented Europe and Asia. Eight man teams played a series of 16 matches involving foursomes, four-ball and singles for the ...

(representing Asia):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonoda, Shunsuke Japanese male golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers Golfers from Tokyo 1989 births Living people