Hisako Higuchi

Hisako Higuchi 樋口久子
Personal information
Full name	Hisako Higuchi
Nickname	Chako
Born	13 October 1945 (1945-10-13) (age 66) 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).

Professional wins

LPGA of Japan Tour (69)

• 1968 (2) Japan Women's Open, Japan LPGA Championship
• 1969 (2) Japan Women's Open, Japan LPGA Championship
• 1970 (3) Japan Women's Open, Japan LPGA Championship, JGP Ladies Open
• 1971 (4) Japan Women's Open, Japan LPGA Championship, JGP Ladies Open, Tokai Classic
• 1972 (5) Japan LPGA Championship, JPGA Asahi Kokusai Tournament, JGP Ladies Open, Tokai Classic, Mizuno Golf Tournament
• 1973 (7) Japan LPGA Championship, World Ladies Golf Tournament, JGP Ladies Open, La Coste Cup Japan vs. U.S., Matsushima Ladies Open, Tokai Classic, Mizuno Golf Tournament
• 1974 (8) Japan Women's Open, Japan LPGA Championship, World Ladies Golf Tournament, LPGA Japan Classic, Chikuma Kogen Ladies Open, Tokyo Charity Classic, Sunster Ladies Match, Mizuno Golf Tournament
• 1975 (1) Tokai Classic
• 1976 (5) Japan Women's Open, Japan LPGA Championship, Sanpo Champions, Miyagi TV Cup Ladies Open Golf Tournament, Tokai Classic
• 1977 (3) Japan Women's Open, Japan LPGA Championship, Tokai Classic
• 1978 (3) Junon Ladies Open, Shinkoh Classic LPGA Tournament, Japan LPGA East vs. West
• 1979 (5) Fuji Heigen Ladies Open, Shinkoh Classic LPGA Tournament, Japan LPGA East vs. West, Hokuriku Queens Golf Cup, Toyotomi Ladies
• 1980 (3) Japan Women's Open, KBS Kyoto Ladies Golf Tournament, Tokai Classic
• 1981 (3) Okinawa Makiminato Auto Ladies Tournament, Tokushima Tsukinomiya Ladies Open Golf Tournament, Pioneer Cup
• 1982 (2) Hokuriku Queens Golf Cup, Kumamoto Chuou Ladies Cup Golf Tournament
• 1983 (5) IDC Otsuka Ladies, Paris Ladies Classic, Japan LPGA East vs. West, LPGA Japan vs. U.S., Daioh Seishi Elleair Ladies Open Golf Tournament
• 1984 (2) Kumamoto Chuou Ladies Cup Golf Tournament, IDC Otsuka Ladies
• 1985 (1) Chukyo TV-Bridgestone Ladies Open
• 1986 (2) Fujitsu Ladies, Tsumura-Itsuki Classic
• 1987 (1) Yamaha Cup Ladies Open
• 1990 (2) an Queens, Kohsaido Asahi Golf Cup

LPGA Tour wins (2)

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

Other wins

this list may be incomplete

• 1974 Wills Australian Ladies Open
• 1983 Sports Nippon Team Match

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runners-up
1977	LPGA Championship	-9 (71-67-72-69=279)	3 strokes	Pat Bradley, Sandra Post, Judy Rankin

References

1. ^ Higuchi takes Classic

External links

• World Golf Hall of Fame profile
• Hisako Higuchi at the LPGA of Japan Tour official site (Japanese)
• Chako Higuchi bio at about.com

Persondata
Name	Higuchi, Hisako
Alternative names	Higuchi, Chako
Short description	Professional golfer
Date of birth	13 October 1945
Place of birth	Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan
Date of death
Place of death