Hisako Higuchi

Hisako "Chako" Higuchi (Japanese: 樋口久子, born 13 October 1945 in Kawagoe, Saitama) is a Japanese professional golfer.

Hisako Higuchi
樋口久子
Personal information
Full nameHisako Higuchi
NicknameChako
Born (1945-10-13) 13 October 1945
Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Nationality Japan
Career
Turned professional1967
Former tour(s)LPGA of Japan Tour
LPGA Tour
Professional wins73
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour2
LPGA of Japan Tour69
ALPG Tour1
Other1
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
Western OpenDNP
Titleholders C'shipDNP
ANA InspirationDNP
Women's PGA C'shipWon: 1977
U.S. Women's OpenT13: 1976
du Maurier ClassicDNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame2003 (member page)
LPGA of Japan Tour
leading money winner		1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979

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.) 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.[2][3]

Professional wins

LPGA of Japan Tour (69)

LPGA Tour (2)
Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runners-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

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 1979 Women's Kemper Open Donna Caponi
JoAnne Carner
Nancy Lopez
Jan Stephenson		 Carner won with par on second extra hole
Caponi, Lopez, and Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole

ALPG Tour (1)

Other (1)
  • 1983 Sports Nippon Team Match

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunners-up
1977LPGA Championship−9 (71-67-72-69=279)3 strokes Pat Bradley, Sandra Post, Judy Rankin

References
  1. Higuchi takes Classic
  2. 4 Japanese in the World Golf Hall of Fame / Golf Global
  3. Who's who: Chako Higuchi
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