Japanese golfer Ryo Ishikawa (L) shares a joke with Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia (R) during a practice round at St Andrews in ScotlandADRIAN DENNIS
If Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa fails to make his major breakthrough at the British Open this week it will not be down to fear.
The 18-year-old dubbed the 'Bashful Prince' has the golfing world at his feet, is blessed with film star looks, an easy charm with the press and public, and an unerring ability to strike the ball massive distances.
Ishikawa played alongside Tiger Woods in the Open at Turnberry last year and fluffed his lines before the event's biggest galleries by missing the cut but he will be no shrinking violet on the Old Course this time around.
"I'm not going to be afraid of playing great golf," Ishikawa told reporters through a translator on Tuesday.
After finishing tied 33rd in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last month where the rigours of four days of championship golf took its toll on his growing frame and resulted in a closing 80, Ishikawa is ready for the challenge at the 150th anniversary Open.
"I had the goal to play the U.S. Open and then to be competitive. For this tournament I'm going to play more aggressively and focus on playing my golf," he said.
"I would like to have the physical strength to play all four days in all the top categories. So I'm going to work harder and do the training."
Ishikawa has won seven career titles, the first at just 15, and along with Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy leads the next generation of potential world beaters, and his closing 58 to win the Crowns tournament in Nagoya in May demonstrated his limitless potential.
Whatever age a player, though, the mystique of playing at St Andrews is never lost.
"I feel the history," said Ishikawa, who partners 60-year-old Tom Watson and Ireland's Padraig Harrington in the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday.
"I also feel the home of golf playing here, so that makes me feel that I'm so glad that I've got to become a professional golfer."