David Ishii will play in the first Champions Tour major of 2006 after accepting an invitation yesterday to be in the 67th Senior PGA Championship. It will be May 25 to 28 at Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla.

Ishii played his first PGA Championship — one of the four PGA Tour majors — at Oak Tree in 1988 and made the cut. He was added to the Senior's 156-player field based on the $11,100 he earned for finishing 29th in the Turtle Bay Championship in January.

"From what I hear the course won't be that easy," said Ishii, 50, who now plays part time in Japan. "The American courses are just harder, more demanding, with more trouble. It's hard to recover if you make mistakes. In Japan, the courses are difficult but not as penalizing."

Ishii, recently inducted into the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame, played in the 1988 PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open after winning the money title the previous year in Japan. He played the Masters and PGA Championship after winning the 1990 Hawaiian Open.

That tour victory also earned him an invitation to the Senior British Open this July in Scotland. He also intends to play in the U.S. Senior Open qualifier June 19 at Waialae Country Club.

"I'm just trying to get into senior tournaments," Ishii said. "I don't care what kind, but majors are nice. I'm just trying to get a chance to play this year and see what it's like."

Seven former Senior PGA Champions are in this year's field, including Tom Watson and Hale Irwin.

Kaua'i's Dan Nishimoto and former Hawai'i pro Dick McClean missed the cut at last year's tournament.