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| JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images |
Over the weekend, the 20-year-old Japanese superstar recorded his second career hole-in-one and came tantalizingly close to defending his title at the Taiheiyo Masters golf championship. In the end an untimely encounter with a water hazard on 18 resulted in a T8 finish for Ryo.
It would have been an awesome win on a number of levels. At second on the Japan Tour money list, Ishikawa has yet to win this year, and because he'll be playing in Australia at the President's Cup this week he's got only two events left in which to claim a 2011 victory.
And speaking of Australia, remember how Ryo was going to introduce the world to his mysterious girlfriend this week in Melbourne? Apparently that's not going to happen. It seems the media frenzy has only gotten frothier since the girlfriend story broke... to the extent that it now includes rumors of pregnancy. While Japan's version of the National Enquirer is no-doubt delighted with these developments this last minute change in plans seems to have been made to avoid the marauding media.
And the latest Bashful Prince buzz? It's now all about the Ishikawa late arrival in Australia. Super-stardom does have a downside. Fortunately, Ryo Ishikawa seems capable of handling just about anything.
