Introduction
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.
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, Aoki would only finish in tied 12th spot 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.
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.
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.
Professional wins (77)
Japan Golf Tour wins (51)
- 1973 (5) Chunichi Crowns, Pepsi-Wilson Tournament, Sapporo Tokyu Open, KBC Augusta, Japan PGA Championship
- 1974 (4) Tozai Taiko (JPGA East-West Match), Kanto Open, Kanto Pro Championship, Sanpo Classic
- 1975 (2) Chunichi Crowns, Kanto Open
- 1976 (1) Tokai Classic
- 1977 (3) Tohoku Classic, Jun Classic, ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches
- 1978 (6) Chunichi Crowns, Japan PGA Match-Play Championship, Sapporo Tokyu Open, Kanto Pro Championship, Nippon Series, ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches
- 1979 (4) Chunichi Crowns, Japan PGA Match-Play Championship, Kanto Pro Championship, Nippon Series
- 1980 (5) Chunichi Crowns, Yomiuri Open, KBC Augusta, Kanto Open, Jun Classic
- 1981 (3) Shizuoka Open, Japan PGA Match-Play Championship, Japan PGA Championship
- 1982 (2) Japan PGA Match-Play Championship, Daikyo Open
- 1983 (4) Sapporo Tokyu Open, Kanto Pro Championship, Japan Open, Nippon Series
- 1986 (4) Sapporo Tokyu Open, Japan PGA Championship, KBC Augusta, Kanto Open
- 1987 (4) Dunlop International Open, ANA Open, Japan Open, Nippon Series (tie with David Ishii)
- 1989 (2) Tokai Classic, Casio World Open
- 1990 (1) Mitsubishi Galant Tournament
- 1991 (1) Bridgestone Open
- 1992 (2) Mitsubishi Galant Tournament, Casio World Open
The lists from the PGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame sites, contain 52 wins, the 1974 Kanto Open is missing from those. His profile on the Japan Golf Tour site says he has 51 wins from 1973 (the official start of the tour).
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 |
Other wins (7)
- 1971 Kanto Pro Championship (Japan)
- 1972 Kanto Pro Championship (Japan)
- 1973 Gold Beck
- 1978 Colgate World Match Play Championship (England)
- 1982 Old Sones Invitational
- 1987 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Payne Stewart)
- 1989 Coca-Cola Classic
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 |
Japan Senior PGA Tour wins (9)
- 1994 Japan Senior Open
- 1995 American Express Grand Slam, Japan Senior Open
- 1996 Japan Senior Open
- 1997 Japan Senior Open
- 2000 N. Cup Senior Open
- 2002 N. Cup Senior Open
- 2007 Japan Senior Open
- 2008 Kinojo Senior Open
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | CUT | DNP | T28 | CUT | T34 | CUT | T45 | CUT | 19 | T25 | T16 | CUT | CUT | T25 | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T36 | 2 | T11 | T30 | DNP | T16 | DNP | DNP | T14 | T50 | T33 | T33 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | T7 | T7 | T12 | T11 | T20 | DNP | T47 | DNP | DNP | DNP | T7 | DNP | CUT |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | DNP | T4 | T49 | CUT | CUT | DNP | T36 | CUT | T38 | T17 | T40 |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 7 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 7 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 42 | 29 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1988 Masters – 1990 U.S. Open)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)
Results in senior majors
Results are not in chronological order before 2012.
| Tournament | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior PGA Championship | 3 | T5 | T5 | 2 | T20 | T44 | T15 | T62 | T20 | CUT |
| The Tradition | 6 | T9 | 2 | T12 | 2 | T13 | T28 | DNP | T47 | T35 |
| Senior Players Championship | T5 | T3 | 6 | T30 | T2 | 3 | T14 | T18 | T17 | 21 |
| U.S. Senior Open | T20 | 10 | T3 | 11 | T49 | T4 | CUT | T47 | T2 | T18 |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior PGA Championship | CUT | T27 | T62 | T28 | CUT | CUT | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Tradition | T20 | T53 | T32 | T67 | T71 | DNP | T57 | 64 | DNP | DNP |
| Senior Players Championship | T12 | T28 | T18 | 52 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Senior Open | T30 | DNP | DNP | T45 | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Senior British Open Championship | T14 | T22 | T36 | T60 | CUT | 50 | CUT | DQ | CUT | CUT |
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
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)