Youngest Competitor Accomplished And Cool

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Mamaroneck, N.Y. - Ryota Ito, the youngest player to ever qualify for the U.S. Amateur, trudged through a heavy downpour most of his round Monday. Only he wasn't alone.

Besides fellow competitors Travis Davis of Lincoln, Neb., and Cole Isban of South Bend, Ind., a horde of Japanese media that reached double digits in number slogged through 18 abysmally wet holes to document the native son's every move like paparazzi cooing over the next chic celebrity.

Ito grabs a towel? The television cameras whirl. Ito plucks open an umbrella? Whirl. Hum. Ito mimics a swing with an airless club while waiting to hit? The tape all but comes flying out of the cameras as fingers frantically try to press record. With every move, every breath, journalists were fawning over the rail-thin prepubescent.

Two other things to note: this all occurred on the 17^th hole, so you can imagine how the entire round went. And, secondly, this story is not being founded on fiction. It really happened.

For the first round of stroke play, it was an amazing sight to see. Ito, though, handled the scrutiny with aplomb. He'd smile, twirl a club or openly laugh with caddie/uncle Shingo Suenaga, well aware of his surroundings. Keep in mind the kid is only 14.

"He said he's used to it," said his cousin Issei Suenaga, who served as Ito's translator, when asked what it's like to be the center of attention.

The fact that the 14-year-old phenom shot 5-over 75 on the elongated 7,266-yard Winged Foot West Course, for some peculiar reason, didn't seem so special even though it should have been treated as such. Even Ito didn't seem overly impressed although he said he was happy with the score.

To understand why Ito has developed into a media darling, one would first have to study his short tenure in golf. He grew up perfecting his swing on the driving range his father owns in Suzuka City, Japan. On July 10, at the Japan Amateur that featured the anomaly of two teenagers battling it out in the final, Ito lost 3 and 2 to 17-year-old D.F. Lee. But it wasn't the Japan Amateur that caught the attention of the nation. Since 10 when he fired a personal-low 62, Ito has steadily built an impressive background on the strength of playing in five Japan PGA Tour events. Failing to make the cut in any of them brings with it a tinge of forgiveness when you're only in junior high school. But at least he can say he played.

As an aside, Ito made the decision to try to qualify for the Amateur when he set a goal of improving his skills a couple years ago. What better way than to make annual treks to Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., each year to visit the Suenagas and to play as much golf as he can.

This year he felt he was ready to give it a go.

On July 29, he underwent his first Amateur qualifier test at Western Hills Golf and Country Club. He shot a 7-under 137 over 36 holes to become the first Japanese junior high school student to qualify for the championship.

"He doesn't think it's that big of a deal," said Suenaga. "He just wants to be here to develop his skills more."

In this era, when Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie made it fashionable to compete with the big kids, Ito has found his niche. The time is here. It's now.

For now.

This week his aspirations are to make it into match play and get to the round of eight.

"If you make the cut, you never know what can happen," said Ito.

On a larger scale, he'd like to "be a seeded player in Japan and play in the Masters," he said.

That means he won't come to the United States to live full time until he polishes his game.

That should take until he's about 20, he guessed.

Then he blushed just as the suffocating entourage encircling him stopped the cameras.

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.