Flash in Japan, but world stardom another matter for Ishikawa

True story, from a very credible source.

The Japanese owners of storied Riviera Country Club have been hesitant to trim the revered course's stately trees over the years, believing it's bad karma. OK, so I'm mixing my religions here a bit, but the owners once used a Shinto priest to bless the branches as they were set to be lopped, lest the gods be offended.

Ryo Ishikawa displays some of his endorsement partners Thursday in his opening round at Riviera. (AP)

This week, a Japanese sapling faces pruning. Say a prayer, everybody, for Ryo Ishikawa.

The latest sprig from the nursery of mega-hyped Japanese golfers is making his American debut this week at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, with 100 of his word-scribbling countrymen in tow to chronicle the event.

The press tent at Riviera is packed to the hilt thanks to the Asian journalism infusion, on hand to see whether Ishikawa can possibly live up to the absurd levels of pro propaganda they helped create back home. He got off to a shaky start Thursday; after making birdie on his first hole, he wound up with a 2-over-par 73.

Ishikawa is a prodigy, no question, but to this point represents a big koi from a small pond. Two years ago at age 15, he won a Japan Tour event, becoming the youngest winner of a professional event sanctioned by the official world golf rankings. An overnight cult hero, he turned pro and has since added two more victories in Japan, leaping to an improbably bloated world ranking of No. 67.

Ishikawa, who clearly does not lack for charisma, stood at Riviera this week and actually said, "Hello America," in English, before conducting the majority of his pre-tournament press confab with the assistance of a language specialist.

Now we'll see whether his game translates or if he will be added to the list of over-publicized Japanese exports who underdelivered when taking their games on the road. Ishikawa is playing on PGA Tour sponsor exemptions in Los Angeles, Tampa and Orlando over the next six weeks before heading to Augusta National, as Masters officials recognized what he could do for their foreign TV ratings and gave him a free pass into the event, where he will become the second-youngest pro ever to compete for a green jacket.

Speaking of garish colors, Ishikawa, now 17, showed up in canary-yellow trousers Tuesday for his practice round in Los Angeles, reminiscent of Sergio Garcia's unintentionally comical "Tweetybird" pants two years ago at the British Open. Actually, making the cultural switcheroo here, Ishikawa looked a little like Pokemon.

Sort of like the Pokemon cartoons, I don't quite understand most of the frenetic plotline. Sure, there have been some solid players who have emerged from the Japan Tour, including PGA Tour winners Todd Hamilton and Dean Wilson, but Ishikawa seems almost destined to flop, at least initially, given the pedestal perch he currently occupies.

I'd never heard of the kid until two years ago, when I was teasing a Japanese journalist about Ai Miyazato, another young Japanese sensation who had come to the States as the country's latest and greatest. When Miyazato played at LPGA Q-school three years ago, a throng of Japanese scribes jetted across the Pacific to chronicle her every move.

One Japanese media outlet -- can't remember which one -- soon thereafter polled the rightly skeptical Yankee scribes, asking us if Miyazato would win the next U.S. Women's Open. I laughed out loud, which was both rude and strangely prophetic, because in her two-plus seasons and 47 starts as a member of the LPGA, Miyazato has recorded four top-three finishes and zero victories.

Anyway, back to my innocent question, posed 1½ years ago: "So, is Japan still going ga-ga over Miyazato, or have her mediocre results turned them off by now?"