, born Son Shi-Kin in Dalian,

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

(now China), was a Japanese professional golfer. He was one of the leading golfers on the Japanese circuit during the 1950s, winning the

Japan Open Golf Championship The is Japan's national open golf championship. Founded in 1927, it is one of the oldest professional golf tournaments in Japan. The Japan Open is one of the three richest tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour, with a prize fund of ¥210 million i ...

three times and representing Japan on four occasions in the

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true worl ...

. He was inducted into the Japan Professional Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.

Professional career

Ono won many tournaments in Japan including the

, the nation's most prestigious tournament, in 1951, 1953 and 1955, and the

Kanto Pro Championship The Kanto Pro Championship was a professional golf tournament in Japan . It was first played in 1931 and was an event on the Japan Golf Tour from 1973 to 1990. It was played in July at a variety of courses in Eastern Japan, mainly in the Kantō reg ...

five times. He also won the

Japan PGA Championship The is a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour, and is one of the tour's four major championships. It was founded in 1926, making it one of the oldest professional tournaments in Japan, and is played at a variety of courses througho ...

in 1955. Around this time in his career he became naturalized and changed his name to Koichi Ono. Ono is best known for his performance in the

1957 Canada Cup The 1957 Canada Cup took place 24–27 October on the East Course at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan. It was the fifth Canada Cup event, which became the World Cup in 1967. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team ev ...

. Ono and his playing partner Torakichi Nakamura were hosts at the event, held at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Japan. The Canada Cup, a precursor to the

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 ...

, featured an elite field that included

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

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 ...

, and

Peter Thomson Peter Thomson may refer to: * Peter Thomson (golfer) (1929–2018), Australian golfer * Peter Thomson (diplomat) (born 1948), Fiji's Permanent Representative to the United Nations * Peter Thomson (footballer) (born 1977), English footballer * Peter ...

. Nakamura and Ono won the event, and won easily, defeating Americans

Jimmy Demaret James Newton Demaret (May 24, 1910 – December 28, 1983) was an American professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957, and was the first three-time winner of the Masters, with titles in 1940, 1947, and ...

and Snead by nine shots. The American sportswriter

Herbert Warren Wind Herbert Warren Wind (August 11, 1916 – May 30, 2005) was an American sportswriter noted for his writings on golf. Early years Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, Wind began golf at age seven at the Thorny Lea Golf Club in Brockton, and played w ...

, writing in ''Sports Illustrated'', compared it to

Francis Ouimet Francis DeSales Ouimet () (May 8, 1893 – September 2, 1967) was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected ...

's famous upset victory at the 1913 U.S. Open. The event was widely televised in Japan and helped spur a golfing boom in the country. This good play helped Ono and Nakamura receive special foreign invitations to the

1958 Masters Tournament The 1958 Masters Tournament was the 22nd Masters Tournament, held April 3–6 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Arnold Palmer won the first of his four Masters titles, one stroke ahead of runners-up Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins. It ...

. They were the first non-white players to play at the Masters. Ono continued to play well throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, winning the

an additional four times.

Professional wins

*1949

*1951

*1953 Japan Open Golf Championship *1954 Yomiuri Pro Championship *1955 Japan Open Golf Championship,

*1957 Yomiuri Pro Championship *1958 Kanto Pro Championship *1959 Kanto Pro Championship *1962 Kanto Pro Championship *1963 Kanto Pro Championship

Team appearances

(representing Japan): 1955,

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

(winners),

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

References

External links

Koichi Ono
at the Japan Professional Golf Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Ono, Koichi Japanese male golfers Japanese expatriates in China 1919 births 2000 deaths