Athletes

World-renowned golfer Hisako “Chako” Higuchi was the first Japanese player to win a major championship on the LPGA Tour. Her career in golf began at the age of 16, when golf great Torakichi “Pete” Nakamura saw potential in his young caddie. Higuchi’s achievements have set the precedent for many Asian players who have followed in her path.

Higuchi embarked on her career as a charter member of the Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan (JLPGA) in 1967. She won both tournaments available that year, the Japan Women’s Open and the JLPGA Championship. From 1969 thru 1977 Higuchi went on to win a total of six Japan Women’s Opens and eight JLPGA Championships. She was also the leading money winner in Japan from 1968 to 1976.

Higuchi won the Women’s Australian Open in 1974. A Colgate European Open winner (1976), she became the first Japanese player to win a major championship on the LPGA Tour when she captured the LPGA Championship, defeating future World Golf and LPGA Hall of Famers Judy Rankin and Pat Bradley in 1977. To this day, Higuchi is the only Japanese player, male or female, to capture a major championship title on either the LPGA or PGA Tours. She ended her career with 72 wins worldwide, a JLPGA record.

Higuchi retired from competitive golf in the 1990s, and her achievements were acknowledged by the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003, when Higuchi was inducted under the Lifetime Achievement category for championing the cause of Japanese golf. Though her playing days have ended, Higuchi continues to blaze a trail for Asian players as the commissioner of the LPGA of Japan, a position she has held since 1997.