Ayako Okamoto


Ayako Okamoto is a Japanese professional golfer. She won 62 tournaments internationally, including 17 on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Early career

Okamoto was born in Akitsu, Hiroshima, now part of Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. In her youth and early 20s she was a softball player. She was the star pitcher on the Japanese national champion in 1971. Her club team was owned by the textile company Daiwabo, where Okamoto worked. The company owned a golf facility next door, and when she was 22, Okamoto finally decided to start playing. Although she pitched left-handed, she learned golf right-handed. She would join the LPGA of Japan Tour in 1973. Just three years later, at age 25, she won the Mizuno Corporation Tournament. In 1979 Okamoto won the Japan LPGA Championship, and in 1981 she won eight times in Japan and topped the LPGA of Japan money list.

LPGA career

Okamoto was a superstar in Japan, but she decided to branch out and joined the American LPGA Tour in 1981. From 1982 through 1992, Okamoto won 17 times, her first coming at the 1982 Arizona Copper Classic. Okamoto was a consistent winner on the LPGA Tour, claiming four wins in 1987 and three wins each in 1984 and 1988. In 1987, she led the tour's money list and earned the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award, the first non-American to do either.
The only thing Okamoto did not do in the United States was win a major. She finished as runner-up six times in major championships. Her best opportunities came in 1986, when she lost a sudden death playoff to Pat Bradley at the du Maurier Classic and in 1987 when she lost an 18-hole playoff to Laura Davies for the U.S. Women's Open crown. She was in the top-10 at the Open every year from 1983 to 1987, and in the top-10 at the LPGA Championship every year from 1984 to 1991.
Okamoto's last LPGA victory was in 1992, and 1993 was her last year to play a full or half schedule in the U.S. Okamoto returned to Japan after 1993, where she played until 2005. In addition to her 17 LPGA wins, Okamoto also won 44 times on the LPGA of Japan Tour, and twice on the Ladies European Tour. She was voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on the International ballot and entered in 2005.

Professional wins (62)

LPGA Tour wins (17)

Note: Okamoto won the Hitachi Ladies British Open before it became a major championship.
LPGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11982Arizona Copper Classic Sally LittleWon with birdie on second extra hole
21983Rochester International Donna White
Kathy Whitworth		Won with birdie on third extra hole
31986du Maurier Classic Pat BradleyLost to birdie on first extra hole
41986Konica San Jose Classic Amy Alcott
Betsy King
Patty Sheehan		Sheehan won with birdie on first extra hole
51987U.S. Women's Open JoAnne Carner
Laura Davies		Lost 18-hole playoff
61989Rochester International Patty SheehanLost to par on first extra hole

LPGA majors are shown in bold.

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (44)

Tournament in bold denotes major championships on LPGA of Japan Tour.

Ladies European Tour wins (2)

CUT = missed the half-way cut.
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary