The Japanese PGA will not punish teenage golf star Ryo Ishikawa after he was found to have driven a car without a valid licence, its chairman said Wednesday.
The Japanese PGA will not punish teenage golf star Ryo Ishikawa (pictured) after he was found to have driven a car without a valid licence, its chairman said Wednesday. "We found that people around Ishikawa, including his father, did not understand Japan's road traffic laws well. They voiced regret about it," Matsui told AFP.
"It was somewhat disappointing that Ishikawa himself, already a responsible adult at the age of 19, had failed to check it himself."
The young star acquired both a US and an international driving licence while staying in the United States to play in events between February and April.
Ishikawa needed to be abroad for at least three months to make his international licence valid at home but he was apparently unaware of the rule and was seen driving a silver Audi to a domestic tournament in late May.
If charged and convicted, the golfer could be jailed for up to a year or fined 300,000 yen ($3,750).
The PGA chief said he had no plan to call a meeting of the association's disciplinary committee to discuss the issue.
But he said the board might take it up again at its next monthly meeting after seeing what kind of action police may take against the golfer.
Ishikawa, who has a host of sponsorship deals banking on his squeaky-clean image, apologised for the mistake last Friday before leaving to play in this week's US Open in Bethesda, Maryland.
He blamed the mistake on "my own carelessness".
The Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO), which governs the men's tournaments at home, said last week that its disciplinary committee would also wait and see what action police took against Ishikawa.
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