Japan's Ryo Hisatsune earns PGA Tour card following conclusion of Race to Dubai rankings
Ryo Hisatsune was a relatively unknown golfer from Japan just over a year ago. But come next season, the 21-year-old will have opportunities to go toe-to-toe against the planet’s best golfers on the PGA Tour on a weekly basis.
Hisatsune became the first Asian golfer on Sunday to benefit from the strategic partnership between the DP World Tour and PGA Tour when he earned his PGA Tour card along with nine others through the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
“My stomach has been in knots playing these last few weeks, but knowing I’ve secured my status makes me extremely happy, and I’m really looking to next year,” said the ever-smiling Hisatsune. “This has only opened the door and it’s up to me to take advantage of the opportunity but for now, I’m just really happy.”
In the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Hisatsune finished tied 18th to seal the last and 10th available PGA Tour card for players not otherwise exempt. Throughout the final day, he moved in and out of the Top 10 bracket but eventually finished 27 points ahead of Rasmus Hojgaard, whose twin brother Nicolai won the final tournament of the DP World Tour season by two strokes. Other players who earned dual memberships on the PGA Tour include Adrian Meronk (Pol), Ryan Fox (Nzl), Victor Perez (Fra), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Alexander Bjork (Swe), Sami Valimaki (Fin), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Matthieu Pavon (Fra) and Jorge Campillo (Esp).
Hisatsune’s joy was for all to see on Sunday as he maintained his meteoric rise where only two years ago, he was playing on the Abema Tour, which is the secondary circuit in his home nation. He won three times then to secure playing rights on the Japan Golf Tour in 2022 and at the end of last year, he signed up for the DP World Tour Qualifying School and finished tied seventh.
It proved to be the start of an impressive run of golf for the young Japanese as he finished runner-up in his first DP World Tour start at the Australian PGA Championship, which was one of eight top-10s accumulated this season. The highlight came in September when he stunningly won the Cazoo Open de France, becoming only the third Japanese golfer in history after Isao
