Ryo Ishikawa returns to The North Country GC as Defending Champion. He refereed his 2019 victory as "one of the best game of my career".

"But I know that I am changing, both good and bad, course has changed, so are the conditions and club settings. I don't intend go after my performance as I did 2 years ago. I will put aside my strategies and performance from 2 years ago and do what I do best now."

His muscular figure is totally different from 2 years go. He returned looking much more different after the break period from July's Japan Open. He also made change on his 1W as he shifted to longer 47.5 inches shaft, as well as he is evolving on his swing developments.

Ryo also gained his motivations from the Olympics.
"I was in tears getting so excited watching the Olympics. Especially Kanoa Igarashi's performance on Semi-Finals was awesome. That 360 turn was magnificent. I was just amazed as one of a sport fan to see the great performances on the Olympics."

Ryo also was deeply moved and sends his greatest respects to Hideki Matsuyama and Silver Medalist Mone Inami.
"Golf is a game where you must do your best in the only 4 days given to you. In order to perform to be able to gain the medal is incredibly tough task. Golf's participating field seemed to be wider in World's Rankings than other sports, as players were selected by representing their counties rather than from their participating Tours. But rankings do not play much factor in golf I think when it is Olympics. Also, for the Japanese players, they were under the pressure for being held in Japan. So, I really admire the great performance done by Hideki and Mone."

Golf has rejoined Olympics from Rio, after 112 years and Ryo says, that has given golf the chance to prosper.
"Fans gets to see the game on TV and internet, and chat about which player was great on SNS. Shared interests are blooming greater than what you could expect on regular golf tournaments. Olympics gave the chance for non-golf fans to tune in. The great performances by Xander Schauffele and Hideki, Rory McIlroy and all of the great players was really exciting. The excitement given by golf in Olympics was more than I imagined. This is great for golf."