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quiet, humble demeanor marks the young Japanese player, Ryuji Imada, as he applies his reliable putting stroke on the practice green at the Deutsche Bank Championship on a cool New England morning.

His relatively slight physical stature, though listed on the PGA Tour's official site as 171 centimeters, is likely a few centimeters shorter. One should never, however, confuse this with his growing stature on the tour.

Only in his fifth season on the tour, the 32-year-old Imada had a breakthrough season last year when he captured the ATT Classic in Atlanta, Georgia, for his first win.

He did this in spectacular fashion, by defeating the consistent American stalwart Kenny Perry in a sudden-death playoff. Perry finished second at this year's Masters, ironically losing once again in a playoff.

After his win, Imada remarked, "I've never believed in destiny, but man, I'm starting to believe." At that time, his win propelled him into the top 50 of the World Golf Rankings.

Although Ryuji represents Japan and is his country's best player on the PGA Tour, he is singularly the most American of Japanese players, having lived in America since age 14.

He attended the University of Georgia, and during his second year in college, led his team to victory in the National Golf Collegiate Championships in 1999.

His promise and potential on the PGA Tour surfaced early when he finished second to none other than Tiger Woods in the 2007 Buick Invitational.

Reflecting on this early achievement, he said, "I knew going into the final round I was seven shots behind Tiger, my goal was to finish second, that's almost like winning the golf tournament to me."

At age 7, Ryuji tagged along with his older brother Takafumi to the golf course and literally never looked back. When he arrived in Tampa, Florida, at age 14, he was at home with golf, but foreign to American culture and English as well.

Although Ryuji has achieved remarkable results in just a few years on the PGA Tour, in Japan his star is being eclipsed by the 17-year-old sensation Ryo Ishikawa. In classic, humble Ryuji style, he spares little in complimenting the young phenom: "He's fully equipped, he's got the game, he's got the charisma and he can handle the media attention." A lesser man's (as human nature dictates) ego would paralyze his tongue at the mere thought of lavishing praise upon a relatively unproven commodity.

2009 has proved to be a work in process for Ryuji. He's not been able to register a top 10 finish with the tail end of the season in sight, compared to his five top 10 finishes in 2008, including his first victory.

He has struggled of late, making only one cut in his last four events. His driving distance and accuracy leave a lot to be desired this year as he is ranked 191st in this category on tour.

It is clearly his putting that has salvaged his season thus far as he ranks 14th in putts per round.

In his time of challenge, Imada has leaned on another player of Asian origin, three-time major winner Vijay Singh.

"He's been a great help because I have been struggling a lot this year. He obviously knows a lot about the golf swing and golf in general and he's a good guy to have on your side."

Continuing to watch Imada's fluid stroke on the practice green that has brought him far from the foothills of Mihara, Japan, to the PGA Tour, I am convinced Ryuji's best golf is yet to be played. We should not be at all surprised to witness the rise of this eastern son once again to bring Japan further glory.