Tadd Fujikawa at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii

Sony Open in Hawaii at the Waialae Country Club

It's been one history making victory after another in Hawaii over the past 12 months. Hawaii has two Hawaii born and raised players on the PGA Tour in Parker McLachlin and Dean Wilson. Wilson is the first Hawaii player in 16 years to win on the PGA Tour. Kimberly Kim is the youngest player ever to win the U.S. Women's Amateur. Tadd Fujikawa became the youngest player in the U.S Open and the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut in a PGA Tour event, right here at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Hawaii had 7 players in the Sony Open field, from Wilson to Abe Mariano, a well known Hawaii teaching professional, to a just turned 16 year old Moanalua High School sophomore by the name of Tadd Fujikawa. A young man who has captured the heart of the country. By now you probably know that Tadd was born premature and weighed just over 1 pound. His doctors gave his parents the hard fact: Tadds' chance of surviving was only 50 percent.

Tadd Fujikawa at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii

Fujikawa studied martial arts and took up golf winning local events time and time again against the top professional and amateur local players. You may have read that Fujikawa is a great young man with a ready smile and quick to credit all the people who have supported him on and off the golf course. When one "The Golf Channel" reporter asked him how he felt after shooting a 66 and making it into weekend play, Fujikawa could just barely say he wasn't breathing, that he never dreamed he could come so far and that he wished everyone could feel as good as he was feeling. Will Fujikawa give up high school and pursue a professional career in golf?

Not so fast. Fujikawa says he's staying in school, and he will be playing on the Moanalua High golf team. His coach made him an offer he couldn't refuse, allowing Fujikawa to play in the local tournaments and play on the team. Then there are the junior golf tournaments that'll take him to the mainland plus there is something called "homework" that's expected of a high school students. None of this comes easy, for either Tadd or his golf coach who is his mother Lori. Derrick and Lori Fujikawa have nurtured their young golfer, watched him passionately pursue judo, and now golf. But what you may not know is the fire that burns in this young man may come from his mom. Lori Fujikawa says she hates getting beat and that's what happens when she plays golf with her son. She gets angry so they keep their relationship to one of coach and student and maybe an occasional putting playoff.

Tadd Fujikawa has a good looking swing!

How does the 16 year Furjikawa handle losing? Pretty much like his mother. Fujikawa says he has high expectations. "If I don't reach my goal, I will not be very happy. I don't say it, but I REALLY get angry when I don't do well." His father Derrick says "He's determined and relentless. Nothing has been given to him and he gets mad when he plays junk."

Check out my interview with Fujikawa on my radio show, "The Golf Club". All of the shows are stored at www.radiogolfclub.com.

For a couple of years, Hawaii's male golfers have had it pretty good, because of the hard work of our one time United States Golf Association executive board member Mary Bea Porter-King. She lobbied hard to get both the local and the regional qualifier for the U.S Open held in Hawaii so our players didn't have to fly to the Mainland for the regional. That ended this past year because of the low numbers signing up. There were ten in the field at Poipu Bay Golf Club for the U.S.G.A. regional qualifier for the U.S. Open.

Tadd Fujikawa with Jim Furyk in the final round of the Sony Open

Tadd Fujikawa was one of beneficiaries of Porter-Kings' hard work. He qualified at that regional in 2006. But now we are pretty much back to the old times, just like it was when Dean Wilson was trying to make it to the big time.

Dean Wilson, winner of the International, lining up his putt

Wilson was a public course golfer from Kaneohe when golf wasn't a cool sport to be into. Tiger Woods was a long way from coming onto the scene when Wilson paid his dues on smaller tours, like the Japan Tour. As a youngster, he could only afford one trip to the mainland, the Junior Worlds at Torrey Pines,so he didn't get noticed by the "scouts" for the colleges. He didn't have a single scholarship offer when he left high school. He went to BYU-Hawaii first hoping to get to a Division I school. He transferred to the main BYU campus on the mainland and had to walk on. He complained to his coach and got this line, one that most kids wouldn't bounce back from.

Wilson says "He told me, "You're a dime a dozen. For all I care, you can paddle your canoe back to wherever you came from." Good thing Wilson believed in himself, worked harder and now lives in Las Vegas so he is closer to the competition and it's easier for him to travel to the PGA Tour events he now plays in.

Dean Wilson

Now Wilson hopes to start a foundation that'll help kids from Hawaii make the trips to the mainland to get competitive skills and noticed on the college circuit. "You don't have to be from a country club. You don't have to have all the extra privileges," he said. "Not that my life was hard, but I was just a basic junior golfer that wanted to play on tour and worked toward it and got there. Hopefully, that's what those guys, when they look at me, they realize nothing is that extraordinary about my game."

Why??? Wie!!!

Michelle Wie at the Sony Open

Associated Press golf reporter Doug Furgeson was in Hawaii for the PGA Tour season opener, the Mercedes-Benz Championship and the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Sony Open in Hawaii practice green

He's been here every year since Michelle Wie first teed it up with Tom Lehman five years ago in the Pro-Am at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Lehman was the man so impressed with her that he called her the Big Wiesy, because she reminded him of Ernie Els with that easy, fluid swing and carefree demeanor. That nickname launched the hoopla surrounding the young female phenom but as Ferguson writes the "Big Queasey" seems more appropriate. Her fourth Sony Open was her worst start with 14 shots separating her from the weekend in seven tries on the PGA Tour. Lehman told Ferguson "She's a lot like Secretariat. She has incredible talent, and you just need to let her run. Don't teach her how to do it. You worry sometimes about her getting too much coaching, or too much handling. Just have fun. Let 'er rip."

Wie had a bandage on her right wrist from an injury. I was told it happened in Japan, others were told it was at the Samsung World Championship. Wie wasn't sure whether the injury was to her tendons or ligaments. I was told she had an M.R.I. that showed no damage. She also spent the two weeks before the Sony Open at ChampionsGate working with her swing coach, David Leadbetter, and her physical trainers. She didn't complain of any pain. The biggest change in her game is her putting and short game. It is saving her from complete meltdown. Her long game is taking her out of the field, and the fairways, literally.

Michelle Wie with bandaged wrist at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii

But she's not giving up. "I have a lot of game in me, it's just not showing now,'' Wie said. "Once it comes out, it's going to be good.'' Considering her recent disasters at the John Deere Classic, then in Switzerland and in Japan,, she's presenting an excellent face to her fans.

Golf writer Doug Ferguson adds this poignant perspective, quoting now from a recent article he wrote: Cristie Kerr once offered the most comprehensive perspective on Wie, summarized in one statement: When you have talent like that, controversy is sure to follow. Controversy is giving way to pity in most corners. There was hardly a trace of anger on the practice range this week about Wie taking away a spot in the field at the Sony Open. Gone was the disgust from players who thought her dream of playing the PGA Tour was a joke. Instead, they felt sorry for her as she struggled to hit the ball straight. Almost everyone offered the same advice - stick with women's golf and find success, then come back and give it another shot.

"Whether it's Michelle or anyone else, if their goal is just to come here and make a cut, I don't think you're here for the right reason,'' Luke Donald said.

"I would say, 'Go play the LPGA Tour and feel like you're going to win every week.' I think she has the talent to win many times out there.''

Charles Howell III saw Wie frequently during her two weeks in Orlando, Fla., over the Christmas break when she worked with David Leadbetter. He saw an extraordinary amount of talent, a swing that doesn't look out of place on the PGA Tour, but also a senior in high school being stretched too thin.

"I would tell her to ask herself, 'What do you want to do?' Then choose that and go with it,'' he said.

It was no small coincidence that Tadd Fujikawa - a year younger and a foot shorter - became the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut on the PGA Tour, especially with all the attention on Wie the last four years.

She was all but forgotten when Fujikawa went birdie-par-eagle to shoot 66.

That isn't an embarrassment as much as an illustration. Fujikawa was playing in the Sony Open for the first time, with no expectations. He was having fun, trying his hardest on every shot, feeling no nerves until cheers on the 18th made it hard for him to breathe.

Wie was like that four years ago - nothing to lose, everything to gain, a constant smile.

Now she has something to lose - her image, mainly - and not as much to gain. Given the talent and the number of times she has played against men, not as many people would be as surprised to see her make it to the weekend.

Where does she go from here?

The plan is to enroll in Stanford this fall, although one has to question how much she will develop if her parents go with her. Having freedom is part of growing up.

As far as golf, the priority is getting healthy and finding a caddie. It hasn't been easy to find a capable looper to work a limited schedule, meaning her father was carrying the bag at Waialae.

Her 2007 schedule is not set, but there's a good chance Wie won't tee it up again until the Kraft Nabisco. The John Deere Classic has an open invitation to Wie, but don't be surprised if she doesn't show up this year.

Don't give up on her because she played poorly on the PGA Tour. The question now is whether she can still contend against the women."

Michelle Wie at the 2007 Sony Open

Thank you Doug. You always know how to get to the quick without inflicting pain.

The Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua, Maui

Vijay Singh with the trophy after winning the 2007 Mercedes Benz Championship

A brand new season with a brand new format, the PGA Tour kicked off 2007 and the Fed Ex Cup race with it's champions only Mercedes-Benz Championship on Maui at the magnificent Plantation course. Magnificent for it views, it's size and it's greens, the course was playing as it was designed, with the trade winds blowing between 15 and 40 mph, depending which day you pick. There was also enough rain to push back the 2nd round to allow the course to dry out.

Kapalua overlooking Molokai

The Mercedes-Benz Championship also had to do without the games top two fan favorites, Phil Mickleson and Tiger Woods.

The tournament went great, except for defending champion Stuart Appleby. He was gunning for his fourth victory in a row at the Mercedes-Benz Championship but he didn't get it.

None of the young guns at the course, including Adam Scott, could get it done either. It all came down to the working man, the former bouncer, Vijay Singh, who took the Cup for his first Mercedes-Benz Championship. It's always nice to start off the season with a win on Maui, knowing that you'll start the season next year on Maui, assuming the PGA Tour is going to stay in Hawaii.

Adam Scott

The answer to that question is the PGA Tour will be staying in Hawaii, kicking off it's PGA Tour, Champions Tour and the LPGA Tour with the season openers. That was one of the agreements reached during the meetings between the PGA Tour and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

I did ask PGA Tour VP Ric Clarson if the Tour would be so kind as to give Hawaii a little notice if it gets close to moving the events to another locale. He assured me the Tour would not handle a move like the PGA Grand Slam of Golf was handled when it was moved from Kauai to Bermuda.

Nevertheless I also asked him what we can do to help keep the PGA Tour in Hawaii. His answer was simple. Continue to support the events, as we have done in the past. That does bring me to one very important point. This 2007 season has been extremely difficult for the organizers. The volunteer force needed to run these events is huge.

We have the Mercedes-Benz Championship, the Sony Open in Hawaii, the MasterCard Championship, the Turtle Bay Championship, the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and the Fields Open at Ko Olina. Since all of these events raise money for over 60 charities in Hawaii, I think the charities should start doing their part encouraging their supporters to support the PGA Tour events.

Many of our volunteers have been from the Armed Forces in Hawaii who are now keeping the fight against terrorism away from our shores and homes. Give of your time if you support a charity on the receiving end of the Friends of Hawaii Charities. You'll be trained, you'll be fed and you'll get a shirt and help the people in Hawaii least able to help themselves.

The USA wins the Ryder Cup

That's the headline we want to see in 2008 when the Ryder Cup will be played at Valhalla on U.S soil with a hometown crowd. The U.S. team will be doing everything it can to beat the so far very successful European team. The European team has been so successful, the U.S. side has made some changes. The U.S. captain now says the changes will make the difference between a win and another embarrassing loss.

Paul Azinger, Ryder Cup Captain 2008

Meet Paul Azinger, cancer survivor and PGA professional since 1981. Azinger, or Zinger to his friends, won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour in seven seasons from 1987 to 1993. That was also the year he capped it all off with his major title, the 1993 PGA Championship. Then came the non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He came back from fighting off the cancer in 2000, and winning the Sony Open in Hawaii. Earlier this year, Azinger was one of the speakers at the 2007 Aloha Section PGA Golf Conference. It's an every two year affair, bringing together the leaders and members of the golf and tourism industries and the public to help grow the game in Hawaii. (One estimate puts the total value of the golf industry to the United States economy at 62 billion dollars, more than the motion picture industry and just a bit less than the electronic sector.)

But back to Azinger and the Ryder Cup. As Greg Nichols, Director of Golf at Ko Olina and chairman of the conference stressed, Azinger didn't have to lobby for the job 'Zinger' coveted. Azinger told us he wanted the gig. Wanted it badly, said Azinger, and he admitted to fretting considerably when his calls weren't returned and the phone didn't ring asking him to take the much maligned appointment. I say much maligned since no one has had much nice to say about our recent captains. They haven't come home with the Ryder Cup. When the phone did ring at the Azinger household, he was invited to dinner by not one, but five of the decision makers. They wanted to know what he planned to do to make the U.S team the winner in 2008. One request was pretty much a deal breaker. Azinger wanted four captains picks, not two. And he wanted a new way to determine who would be automatically on the team. He got what he wanted.

During the conference, Azinger said experience is overrated. He also said the bonding question is overrated. What he wants are guys who are on their game and ready to go into MATCH PLAY. Azinger says for some reason, the European team has had the advantage because the putts and the chips just seem to drop for Montgomerie, Woosnan, Clarke, etal during the Ryder Cup Match but not for the American team.

What about all that European camaraderie we see on our television sets and that apparent aloof distance on the U.S. side? Azinger says for the past several Ryder Cups the U.S team has started off down in the morning and down in the afternoon. What we are seeing is shock and disbelief on our U.S guys faces and the joy of being in the lead on the Europeans.

Azinger says he demanded changes made in how the automatic 8 got on the team. He wants only the hottest golfers in the "now". That means only counting the money or the points for the 2008 season with one concession. There will be points for the winners of the 4 majors in the 2007 season. Remember, with the FedEx Cup in full swing by 2008, the players will be coming off a six week solid schedule and straight into Valhalla. Sounds prophetic. Azinger will have the top eight players who are hot, not were hot.

Okay, so what about the captains picks. What will he use to decide who he'll add to the team. During the conference, Azinger said experience is overrated. He also said the bonding question is overrated. What he wants are guys, guys who are on fire, guys who are hot, who are on their game and ready to go into MATCH PLAY.

Azinger says for some reason, the European team has had the chips and putts drop during match play while the Americans haven't. Is it because the Europeans play the format more often than the Americans? Maybe. But it's no excuse for our recent embarrassing loses, especially the last one when the outcome of the Ryder Cup was a given on Sunday. Azinger also doesn't buy into the idea that experience is an advantage or that bonding between team players is important.

What is important? The desire, the insistence, to be THE one to win the point. Or, as was the case for him, to not allow the other player to win the point. That was his mantra when he holed out of the bunker on the18th to win against Fazzth. "I don't want him to win the point!!! OVER AND OVER AGAIN, to himself, to his caddy... to no one in particular..."I can't let him win this point."

I asked Mr. Azinger why the European team always seemed so pumped up and "bonded" while the U.S. team seemed fractured? Azinger says that's easy. For the past few years, the European team has had the lead from the beginning. What you are seeing is the glee of being in the lead on the European faces and stunned disbelief on our team.

How can we possibly be back in this position again is written all over their faces. They are feeling angry with themselves, not with their teammates?

Okay, I get that. But I still don't sense our country goes into the Ryder Cup with the same feelings we felt maybe 30 years ago. I'm not sure the United States are as united as we once were. We're fractured into the red and blue states in a time where our differences seem to define us more than our similarities. Let's hope 2008 brings home the Ryder Cup. I think one statement Azinger says he made may be a key. He told the players he was talking to, hey - "I'm not your coach, I'm your captain."

At the conference, we also heard from Larry Gilhuly, formerly the USGA Green Section Western Director, he now gives agronomic advice to golf courses in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The topic of his address was "Managing Golfers Expectations". Now there's a challenge. See if you agree with these four responses Gilhuly says he got when he asked approximately 100 people, very unscientifically, what they expected from an outing at a golf course:

1. Great Weather
2. Great Service
3. Great Views
4. Green grass

Obviously number 1 is out of anyone's control. Number 2 is completely up to the golf course staff. Gilhuly focused on numbers 3 and 4 but more specifically on 4, the views.

He cautioned golf courses to realize that once they introduce water to an arid climate to grow the grass, the other plants, i.e. trees and scrubs, will grow also and in some cases completely alter the visual value the golf course had when it first opened. So the word is pruning, pruning and more pruning.

Your Last Champions Skins at Wailea?

I remember when Wailea got the deal to host the Champions Skins game, the made for TV event that was played at Mauna Lani. It had been at Hualalai for many years with a wonderful lu'au on the lawn under the stars along the beautiful Kohala Coast. It was obvious that Mauna Lani wasn't happy losing the Champions Skins game to Wailea but so it goes. And Wailea was full of glee the first year it hosted the four greatest names in golf. The Wailea team did everything to make everyone, from the volunteers to the media, feel it was a absolute honor and victory to be the chosen site. So it comes as quite a surprise to hear the Wailea spokesman Barry Helle talk about this possibly being the last Skins game played at Wailea because Wailea is looking at other options for promoting the resort. But back to the game.

Wendy's Champions Skins winners Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson

Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson won the Champions Skins Game on Sunday, earning seven skins and $260,000 on the back nine to edge Gary Player and Jay Haas by $30,000. Nicklaus and Watson finished with nine skins and $320,000, giving Nicklaus an event-record 96 skins and $2,295,000. Player and Haas, the Champions Tour player of the year, finished with six skins worth $290,000 in the four-team, alternate-shot event.

Arnold Palmer

Arnold Palmer made a 10-foot birdie on the second playoff hole to earn a skin worth $100,000, the only money he and Loren Roberts won. Defending champions Raymond Floyd and Dana Quigley began the day tied for the lead with Nicklaus-Watson at two skins and $60,000, but were blanked on the back nine.

I am preparing now for the retirement of golf's number one LPGA player of 2006. Lorena Ochoa says in ten years she wants to have children and by then she'll want to "hang" up the bag for good.

Lorena Ochoa, Number 1 Player of 2006 and Female Athlete of the Year

For a day I was stunned to hear the same news from Annika Sorensam. But it turns out the magazine in Sweden got it wrong. Sorenstam says she is not preparing for retirement and that she is looking forward to the 2007 season and her business ventures. The Swedish newspaper said she was ready to start a family and settle down.. The article went so far as to say she is tired of golf and wants to have kids and if she and her boyfriend, Mike McGee, decide the time is now, she's gone. Well they got it wrong.

Annika Sorenstam will continue to dominate in 2007

We're hearing so much about people adopting children from African countries and China and Africa have come to a business agreement with Africa providing the Chinese with raw materials and China opening up trade markets in Africa. The east African community to also coming together in golf. They have combined their golf calendar this year. The countries are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. It will be the first time since the death of the East African Golf Union seven decades ago that local amateurs have a similar schedule. The Kenya Golf Union treasurer David Nyadango revealed the move to settle on one calendar aimed at avoiding a clash of events in the region, drawing all the attention to the one on tap.

Speaking of drawing attention. The Honda Classic is building an extravaganza of entertainment around it's PGATour event. The Honda Classic is moving to PGA National at Palm beach Gardens in the lead off position on the Florida Swing the first week of March. There are plans for evening concerts, fireworks shows, Play Golf America demo day like events and a Bear Trap hospitality pavilion intended to create a festive atmosphere. Honda Classic executive director Kenneth Kennerly says "We are not just in the golf business anymore".

Four thousand people took up St. Andrews offer to help name the new seventh course. The winner? American Edwin Burtnett. The course will be know as The Castle course, reflecting the history of the Headland southeast of St. Andrews where Kindell Castle stood during the Middle Ages.

And finally, speak now or forever hold your peace? A newly wed couple from Levin, New Zealand played 18 holes of golf immediately after their wedding ceremony to decide who would give up their last name. Greg Marshall and his bride Adrienne Foley were still wearing their wedding outfits when they played. Apparently Adrienne complained why women have to lose their surname when marrying. Adrienne was battling not only the discomfort of playing while wearing a wedding gown plus her odds of winning was small considering how often Greg plays. But during the game, Adrienne managed a hole in one on the ninth hole causing Greg a moment of panic. He scored a three shot lead on the 17th and clinched the game on the last hole. So it's Greg and Adrienne Marshall.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions and for you Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time!

Aloha,
Danielle

PS: You didn't think I was going to end this column without a mention of the Sony Open in Hawaii winner. It was long time player Paul Goydos, who told reporters, tongue firmly in cheek, that it's his goal to win once a decade.

Paul Goydos, Champion 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii

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