| Hisako Higuchi 樋口久子 |
|
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Hisako Higuchi |
| Nickname | Chako |
| Born | 13 October 1945 Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan |
| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1967 |
| Former tour(s) | LPGA of Japan Tour LPGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 72+ |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| LPGA Tour | 2 |
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 69 |
| Best results in LPGA Major Championships (Wins: 1) |
|
| Western Open | DNP |
| Titleholders C'ship | DNP |
| Kraft Nabisco C'ship | T3: 1975, 1976 |
| LPGA Championship | Won: 1977 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T13: 1976 |
| du Maurier Classic | DNP |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 2003 (member page) |
| LPGA of Japan Tour leading money winner |
1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979 |
Hisako "Chako" Higuchi (樋口久子, born 13 October 1945 in Kawagoe, Saitama) is a Japanese professional golfer.
Higuchi won the LPGA Championship on 12 June 1977,[1] making her the first Asian-born player to win a major championship for either men or women. (No Asian-born player would win a men's major until Yang Yong-eun won the 2009 PGA Championship.) She remains the only Japanese woman to win an LPGA major championship. Alongside Ayako Okamoto, she dominated the 1970s and 1980s in Japanese women's golf.
Higuchi studied golf from Torakichi Nakamura, a member of Japan's winning team at the 1957 World Cup of Golf. She turned pro in 1967 and went on to win 69 titles on the LPGA of Japan Tour. She was 31 when she won her LPGA Championship.
Higuchi became President of the LPGA of Japan Tour in 1996. In 2003, she became the first Japanese golfer to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. She was soon to be followed by Isao Aoki (2004), Okamoto (2005), and Masashi Ozaki (2011).
Contents |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 Aug 1976 | Colgate European Open | -12 (68-74-68-74=284) | 6 strokes | Sandra Palmer, Kathy Whitworth |
| 2 | 12 Jun 1977 | LPGA Championship | -9 (71-67-72-69=279) | 3 strokes | Pat Bradley, Sandra Post, Judy Rankin |
this list may be incomplete
| Year | Championship | Winning Score | Margin | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | LPGA Championship | -9 (71-67-72-69=279) | 3 strokes | Pat Bradley, Sandra Post, Judy Rankin |