Ryo Ishikawa used to be Blades Brown. Both are chasing the same dream

Seventeen years ago, Ryo Ishikawa made his PGA Tour debut. He was a 17-year-old world golfer who had already won on the Japan Tour and seemed to be at the top of the golf world. He first won on the Japan Tour at the age of 15, finished T20 at the Masters at the age of 19 and was a top 50 player in the world at the age of 20.

Every shot of Ryo Ishikawa and every second of his long post-round press conferences were broadcast. Nicknamed the “Disgraced Prince,” Ishikawa was expected to become a golfer. But as often happens, golf had other plans. Ishikawa was a regular on the PGA Tour from 2012 to 2017. He had two runners-up finishes, nine top ten finishes and made more cuts than he missed. But he never found the winner’s circle, and a back injury led to a dip in play that cost him his PGA Tour card in 2017. Ishikawa returned to the Japan Tour and rebuilt his body and his game. He now has 20 career wins on the Japan Tour and is playing as a full member of the Korn Ferry Tour this year as he looks to return to the PGA Tour for the first time in a decade.

Ishikawa is no longer a rising star in golf. But this week at the Evans Scholars Invitational, he played one of the golf games. And in 19-year-old Blades Brown, Ryo Ishikawa sees something different than he did when he was billed as golf’s next big thing.

“He’s a lot better than when I was 19, 18,” Ishikawa said Saturday at Brown. “To be honest, I played well on the Japan Tour at that time but I couldn’t figure out how to play here in the States, in the majors and on the PGA Tour. I believe he is the best player on the Korn Ferry Tour right now.

“He’s a great player. And he’s not just a player, he’s a great player. I’m very impressed watching him play.”

Like Ishikawa, Brown took an unconventional path to golf’s profile; such is the story of events.

At age 17, Brown decided to drop out of college and turn pro. He won his first PGA Tour title at the Mexico Open last year but played the weekend in three of the eight PGA Tour events. He has earned Korn Ferry Tour status in full and has been content to “run his race,” grinding his way to the top. Earlier this year, Brown played on the final team at this year’s American Express alongside Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim. Brown lost that day as Scheffler roared to victory, but he left Palm Springs with something important as he continues to climb the golf ladder.

“I could probably write a book about what I’ve learned these past few days,” Brown said, laughing, that day in Southern California. “Just knowing that I can compete here, it was so much fun watching Scottie win in person and playing with him.

“I was having so much fun. He told me I was going to play in a PGA Tour event and play with Scottie Scheffler and see him win, that was crazy.”

A few months later, days after he turned 19, Brown carded four rounds in the 60s at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, finishing tied for fourteenth and earning an exclusive Provisional Membership on the PGA Tour. He chose to accept an exclusive Temporary Membership while continuing to pursue his PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour. Blades Brown chose an unusual path to start, and continues to blaze his trail. He is currently ninth in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings. The top 20 at the end of the year receive their PGA Tour card.

After shooting a 10-under 62 on Saturday at the Evans Scholars Invitational, Brown will enter Sunday with another chance to earn his first KFT and put more points on his PGA Tour card.

“Good golf takes care of everything,” Brown said at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. “The Korn Ferry Tour is amazing. For me, what it did for me was give me a path to the PGA Tour. The best thing I think it did was teach me to come down. I can’t thank the Korn Ferry Tour enough for teaching me those important lessons, because everybody who comes off the PGA Tour, can come down. Look at Wyndham. [Clark]looked at Scottie [Scheffler]looked at Si Woo [Kim]. Twenty-eight-under, 27-under is no joke. Without the Korn Ferry Tour, I wouldn’t have had that energy.

“I’m excited for the next few weeks and see what happens.”

Blades Brown is lightning. There is power and electricity when it rolls. At the age of 19, with the world in front of him, he commands attention when he hits. Ishikawa used to have that effect. He used to be what everyone dreams of; wondering what it is this it will look in five or 10 years. Today, Ryo Ishikawa is no longer a youth powerhouse. That has been replaced by age stability; the maturity and determination that comes with taking an unplanned road, one that is fraught with difficulty.

In 2012, after playing five straight weeks on the PGA Tour at the age of 21 – two years older than Brown is now – Ishikawa noted the obstacles he faced to get to where everyone thought he would end up.

“It was like solving a puzzle all the time about how to beat the course and look for the chances of winning,” Ishikawa wrote in a column for the Asahi Shimbun.

Fourteen years later, Ryo Ishikawa, no longer a great golfer, but perhaps the next great story, is still trying to solve that mystery – to get to the place he always seemed destined for all those years ago.

“I’m happy to be here,” Ishikawa said last month at The Occunet Classic. “My goal is to get back on the PGA Tour. It’s a goal. But it’s a big goal. It’s a tough goal for everybody. I’m just trying to get better and better each day.”

So did Blades Brown. Perhaps, soon, the golfing giants of the past and present will both come to a halt on the roads they are meant to travel only.