About Hiroshi Iwata

Hiroshi Iwata was born on Jan. 31, 1981, in Miyagi, Japan. He became a member of the Japan Golf Tour in 2004. He started off his pro career with moderate success and has experienced found increased success as he has matured.

In 2008, Iwata had a strong year by making the cut in 16 of the 22 tournaments he entered. During this stretch, he had six finishes in the top 10. His best tournament of the year was the Fujisankei Classic, in which he finished second. He also finished in third place at the Tsuraya Open the same year. During the Tsuraya Open, he had his best round as a pro when he had nine birdies in one round and shot a score of 63.

Iwata seems to play better as tournaments progress to their later rounds. Iwata's average score in the first and second rounds is 72.83, his average score in the third round drops to 71 and his fourth-round average is 70. His fourth-round average ranks 15th best on the Japan Tour (as of August 2009). Iwata's strength comes in his short game. For his career he has averaged 28.04 putts per round, which ranks fourth on the Japan Tour. Iwata has never made a hole-in-one as a professional golfer, but he has recorded two eagles. On the flip side, he has also recorded two triple bogeys. Over his career, Iwata is +12 on par 3 holes, +31 on par 4 holes and -22 on par 5 holes.

Iwata has made $112,000 U.S dollars during his time as a professional golfer. Although he did play in the 2007 British Open--which traditionally has a large purse--Iwata failed to make the cut and did not earn any money in the tournament.

As of mid-season of 2009 Iwata was the 290th-ranked golfer in the world, according to the Official World Golf Ranking.