Teenage Japanese star gets words of advice

from Jumbo Ozaki: Beware of women!

Teenage Japanese golf star Ryo Ishikawa, the country’s youngest-ever top earner, has been advised by senior players not to follow the example of scandal-hit Tiger Woods.
Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, who holds the Japan Tour record of 94 wins, played a round with Ishikawa today in a celebrity charity tournament in Chiba, outside Tokyo, as Woods’ affairs continued to dominate world news.
“He (Ishikawa) is the top money earner and he is just 18. There may be little possibility that we will see someone like him in the future,” Ozaki, 62, told a news conference with the youngster after the event.
“I have nothing much left to tell him. But, well, there is one thing I want to tell Ryo: ‘Beware of women,’” Ozaki said, drawing laughter from the floor and Ishikawa.
The high school student replied with a coy smile: “Mr (Tsuneyuki) Nakajima said the same thing to me.”
Ishikawa played in an event on Sunday with “Tommy” Nakajima, 55, who finished third in the 1988 US PGA Championship and who has 48 Japan Tour wins to his name.
Ishikawa has described Woods, 33, as his idol since childhood and expressed his desire to win the US Masters by the age of 20.
Ishikawa has played three majors this year, missing the cut at the Masters and the British Open and finishing tied for 56th spot at the US PGA Championship. He was partnered with Woods at the British Open at Turnberry where both bowed out at the halfway stage.
“I am shocked,” Ishikawa told Japanese media on Saturday when he learned Woods was taking an “indefinite” break from the game.
“He had a stoic image and I was among those who knew nothing about his private life. Like everybody else, I am surprised as a fan,” he added.
Ishikawa has kept the Japanese domestic men’s game alive with his powerful drives and aggressive short game, drawing high television ratings and huge galleries.
He won four domestic tournaments this year and finished on top of the tour’s earnings list for the first time with 184 million yen (two million dollars).
He is said to be the youngest money leader in any of the world’s six major tours.
Woods became the US PGA leader for the first time in 1997 when he was 21. Spaniard Seve Ballesteros was 19 when he dominated the European Tour in 1976.

Nike chairman says it's a 'minor blip' in Tiger's career ...
Meanwhile, Nike Chairman and co-founder Phil Knight said the current scandal surrounding Tiger Woods is "part of the game" in signing endorsement deals with athletes and would not affect the athletic shoe and clothing maker's relationship with the golfer.
Knight told Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal that Nike checked out Woods' background before signing its deal with the golfer and "he came out clean."
Knight said companies cannot get such background checks right all the time and "there's always a risk." However, he signalled no move to distance Woods from Nike, which has founded its global golf business on Woods' reputation and play.
"I think he's been really great," Knight said in the interview published today. "When his career is over, you'll look back on these indiscretions as a minor blip, but the media is making a big deal out of it right now."
Woods, the world's first billionaire athlete, is estimated to earn about $100 million a year in endorsement deals.