| Ai Miyazato | |
|---|---|
 Ai Miyazato at the 2007 LPGA Championship |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | June 19, 1985 Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) |
| Nationality |  Japan |
| Residence | Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Career | |
| College | None |
| Turned professional | 2004 |
| Current tour(s) | LPGA of Japan Tour (joined 2004) LPGA Tour (joined 2006) |
| Professional wins | 18 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| LPGA Tour | 3 |
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 15 |
| Best results in LPGA Major Championships |
|
| Kraft Nabisco C'ship | T15: 2007 |
| LPGA Championship | T3: 2006 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T6: 2009 |
| Women's British Open | T3: 2009 |
Miyazato Ai (宮里 藍 Miyazato Ai, born June 19, 1985 in Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan) is a professional 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.
Miyazato earned her first LPGA Tour win at the 2009 Evian Masters, shooting 14-under par 274 to tie Sophie Gustafson who she then beat on the first playoff hole. She won her second and third LPGA Tournament at the first two tournaments of the year in 2010: the season opening Honda PTT LPGA Thailand and the HSBC Women's Champions.
She has endorsements deals with Suntory, Bridgestone Corporation, Japan Airlines, Oakley, Honda, Hisamitsu, Mitsubishi Electric, Meiji Seika and Yamaichi.
Her older brother, Yūsaku Miyazato is also a professional golfer.
Contents |
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | DNP | T44 | T29 | T15 | T31 | 69 |
| LPGA Championship | DNP | DNP | T3 | CUT | CUT | DNP |
| U.S. Women's Open | DNP | CUT | T28 | T10 | T27 | T6 |
| Women's British Open | CUT | T11 | 9 | T58 | 5 | T3 |
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.
| Year | Events played |
Cuts made |
Wins | 2nds | 3rds | Top 10s |
Best finish |
Earnings ($) | Rank | Scoring average |
Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | T2 | n/a | n/a | 70.20 | n/a |
| 2005 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | T10 | 102,663 | n/a | 72.41 | n/a |
| 2006 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | T3 | 532,053 | 22 | 71.22 | 13 |
| 2007 | 25 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 788,477 | 17 | 73.01 | 56 |
| 2008 | 23 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | T4 | 410,833 | 46 | 72.19 | 48 |
| 2009 | 22 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1,517,149 | 3 | 70.33 | 4 |
| 2010 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 390,000 | 1 | 68.13 | 1 |
Career total ¥ 375,656,280 (35)
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
