The 17-year-old will play in three PGA tournaments, starting with the Northern Trust Open at Pacific Palisades, California, before April's US Masters - still not certain if he will encounter his idol along the way.

'If I can meet him (Woods), shake hands with him and greet him, it will make me feel happy that I have been playing golf,' Ishikawa said on Saturday before leaving for the United States.

'But that kind of feeling means that I am still not ready to fight him,' he said. 'I'd rather aim to become a player capable of fighting Woods, if years later or decades later, and win.'

Nicknamed 'Bashful Prince' for his unassuming behaviour and charming smiles that contrast with his powerful and aggressive game, Ishikawa is likely to be a big draw at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club, which starts on Thursday.

'Ryo Ishikawa attracts 'Tiger-like' attention in Asia,' said Northern Trust Open tournament director Tom Pulchinski. 'And it will be fun for a US audience to see him for the first time at the Northern Trust Open, while fans throughout the world watch him compete against the PGA Tour's best players.'

Ishikawa's dream has been to play against Woods and win the Masters before he turns 20, which would mean he would replace the US superstar as the youngest winner of the famous green jacket.

That dream has already powered him to a win in Japan's KSB Cup in May 2007 at the age of 15 years and eight months, when he become the youngest winner of any event on one of the world's six major tours.

Woods won the 1997 US Masters title at the age of 21 years and three months, giving Ishikawa, already a hot marketing property sponsored by major firms such as Panasonic, Toyota and Coca-Cola, several years to achieve his aim.

Riviera Country Club was where Woods made his PGA debut in 1992 - in the Nissan Open - when he was 16.

Still a high school student, Ishikawa has established himself on the Japan tour after one year as a professional by winning another event and finishing runner-up at the Japan Open and the Dunlop Phoenix event. He unexpectedly received a special invitation last month to the Masters.

When he tees off at Augusta National Golf Club on April 9, he will be the second youngest player ever to compete in the major.

'You may talk about strategy but it is not that I have a wide range of golf skills. So, I have no choice but to give all I have,' Ishikawa said ahead of his first professional event in the United States.

'No matter how narrow the holes may be and even if winds blow, I will give top priority to hitting driver shots as hard as possible,' he added. 'I am pinning hope on myself in some way,' he said. 'But I also have as much fear, or what you may call a negative thought, that I won't make it over there.' -- AFP