Ryo Ishikawa Has to Let People Down Easy Sometimes

Perhaps in a sign of changing times, this is my second post this week about Ryo Ishikawa.  (Don't think so, though.)  Anyway, Ryo is a man that is in high demand these days.  Pretty much every major company in Japan sponsors the kid.  The Japanese just love their sports heroes in a way that makes Americans look disinterested.

With high demand comes a lot of obligations - many in conflict.  Ishikawa was originally going to host a tournament sponsored by Lexus on the Japan Tour.  But, then he was assured a spot in the HSBC Champions in a few weeks, "Asia's major," and he had to make a decision.

He let Toyota owner Lexus down easy, and they're ok with it.  As the AFP reports:

"My father has talked to Toyota. They have asked him to tell me 'Please go for it by all means'," the 18-year-old high student told Japanese media on Wednesday as he trained for a Japan Tour event at the weekend.

"I thank Toyota for supporting me this way. Now I can go to the HSBC Champions feeling good."

For Toyota, it's probably better to have Ishikawa in the HSBC event.  It's now a sort of WGC event, and it has way better TV coverage than a run of the mill Japan Pro Golf Tour event.  And seeing as though Toyota's had some really bad PR lately, they could use a great finish by Ishikawa.