Isao Aoki

Isao Aoki 青木 功
Personal information
Born	(1942-08-31) 31 August 1942 Abiko, Chiba
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Nationality	Japan
Career
College	None
Turned professional	1964
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	Japan Golf Tour PGA Tour
Professional wins	78
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	1
European Tour	1
Japan Golf Tour	51 (2nd all-time)
PGA Tour Champions	9
Other	16
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	T16: 1985
U.S. Open	2nd: 1980
The Open Championship	T7: 1978, 1979, 1988
PGA Championship	T4: 1981
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2004 (member page)
Japan Golf Tour leading money winner	1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981

Isao Aoki (青木 功, Aoki Isao, born 31 August 1942) is a Japanese professional golfer. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

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 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.^[1]

In 1983, Aoki won the Hawaiian Open on the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the Panasonic European Open 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. Aoki is also one of 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 (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, 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.^[2]

In December 1984 after receiving an invitation from Gary Player, Aoki traveled to South Africa to participate in the Million Dollar Challenge. Aoki did this in spite of Japanese government efforts to dissuade him from making the trip.^[3]

As a senior, Aoki has played mainly in the United States on the Champions Tour, 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.^[4]

Professional wins (77)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	13 Feb 1983	Hawaiian Open	−20 (66-70-65-67=268)	1 stroke	Jack Renner

European Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	4 Sep 1983	Panasonic European Open	−6 (65-70-70-69=274)	2 strokes	Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Carl Mason

Champions Tour wins (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	27 Sep 1992	Nationwide Championship	−8 (70-66=136)	1 stroke	Raymond Floyd
2	18 Sep 1994	Bank One Senior Classic	−14 (69-64-69=202)	3 strokes	Chi-Chi Rodríguez
3	25 Sep 1994	Brickyard Crossing Championship	−11 (66-67=133)	1 stroke	Jimmy Powell, Tom Wargo
4	27 Aug 1995	Bank of Boston Senior Classic	−12 (69-66-69=204)	1 stroke	Bob Charles, Hale Irwin
5	26 May 1996	BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland	−14 (64-68-70=202)	1 stroke	Graham Marsh, Jay Sigel
6	30 Jun 1996	Kroger Senior Classic	−15 (63-69-66=198)	1 stroke	Mike Hill, Rocky Thompson
7	28 Sep 1997	Emerald Coast Classic	−14 (71-60-65=196)	Playoff	Gil Morgan
8	14 Jun 1998	BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland	−18 (62-66-70=198)	2 strokes	Larry Nelson
9	19 May 2002	The Instinet Classic	−15 (69-67-65=201)	4 strokes	John Jacobs

Champions Tour playoff record (1–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1994	The Transamerica	Kermit Zarley	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2	1995	The Tradition	Jack Nicklaus	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
3	1997	Emerald Coast Classic	Gil Morgan	Won with par on second extra hole
4	1998	Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic	Leonard Thompson	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5	2000	State Farm Senior Classic	Leonard Thompson	Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Results in major championships

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

Results in senior majors

Results are not in chronological order before 2012.

Note: The Senior British Open Championship did not become a major until 2003.
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

• World Cup (representing Japan): 1973, 1974
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Japan): 1985, 1999, 2000
• Nissan Cup/Kirin Cup (representing Japan): 1985, 1987, 1988
• UBS Warburg Cup (representing the Rest of the World): 2001, 2002
• Dynasty Cup (representing Japan): 2003 (non-playing captain), 2005 (non-playing captain)

Honours

• Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (2004)
• Medal with Purple Ribbon (2008)
• Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2015)

See also

• List of golfers with most Japan Golf Tour wins

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Isao Aoki at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• Isao Aoki at the PGA Tour official site
• Isao Aoki at the European Tour official site
• Isao Aoki at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Profile at World Golf Hall of Fame site
• My Philosophy No.74 Isao Aoki | InterLiteracy