LPGA Tournament at San Diego : Leader Okamoto Has a Possible Problem

The Masters in Augusta, Ga., is always a very big story in Japan, but in the Tokyo newspapers today, the top golf story will come out of the Bernardo Heights Country Club, site of this week’s Ladies Professional Golf Assn.’s Kyocera Inamori tournament.

Ayako Okamoto--the top woman golfer and a national favorite in Japan--shot a two-under-par 70 Friday for a two-day total of 136 and a one-stroke lead over last week’s Dinah Shore winner, Betsy King and Pat Bradley. King shot a 67, Bradley a 68.

Amy Alcott, Patty Sheehan and Penny Hammel were two shots behind Okamoto. Tammy Fredrickson of Pasadena was three shots back.

With all three Japanese golfers failing to make the cut at Augusta, the Japanese media will be heading for San Diego. And that’s what Okamoto is afraid of.

“She’s worried that the press guys may show up,” said Margie Kato, Okamoto’s manager and translator. Okamoto speaks some English, but she prefers to have Kato interpret for her.

“Ayako usually does well when they (press) are all somewhere else,” Kato said. “It’s much easier being here alone. That way, the pressure is on yourself. After she finishes a round here, she doesn’t have all the interviews.”

Most of Okamoto’s success has come on the LPGA Tour, but the ninth-ranked player last year and the 10th-leading money winner so far this season ($48,658), is virtually unknown in the United States.

Okamoto, 36, was a very talented softball pitcher until 11 years ago when she switched to golf. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1981 and had her best season in 1984, when she ranked third in earnings with $251,108.

In 1985, Okamoto was hampered by a bad back and dropped to No. 23. She could barely walk, and in August 1985, she agreed to have papaya enzymes injected into her herniated disk instead of undergoing surgery.

“I had never been in a hospital before,” Okamoto said. “I cried when I had my ears pierced. And I was very upset with all the needles. I cried in the hospital. I didn’t like the white walls and the smell.”

After being treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Okamoto did not play golf until Jan. 1986. Okamoto lives in Ft. Pierce, Fla., but plans to move to Redondo Beach in June.

Last year, Okamoto earned $198,362 and won the Elizabeth Arden tournament and Cellular One-Ping Championship.

Okamoto is still bothered periodically by her back, she rarely plays golf more than three weeks in a row, and she often sleeps on a hard floor, but the papaya procedure was enough of a success to enable her continue her career.

On Friday, when Okamoto had four birdies and two bogeys, she said her back hurt throughout most of the round. Playing on a hilly course such as Bernardo Heights is particularly difficult on the back.

“It especially hurt when I hit a bad shot,” joked Okamoto.