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Fujikawa shocks the golf world at the Sony Open

HONOLULU -- A local teenager rewrote the PGA Tour
record books by making the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii on
Friday.

No, it wasn't Michelle Wie, but pint sized Tadd Fujikawa who
electrified the gallery with a stunning display at Waialae
Country Club.

Four days after turning 16, Hawaiian-born Fujikawa shot a
sizzling 66 to become the second youngest player to make the cut
on tour, behind only Bob Panasik, who was 15 when he played all
four rounds at the 1957 Canadian Open.

"This is just the greatest feeling in the world," said a beaming
Fujikawa, who finished in magnificent style by sinking a
15-foot eagle at the final hole and delivering a Tiger
Woods-like uppercut in an expressive celebration as the gallery
went crazy.

"Me and my caddie both knew exactly what the break was going to
be, and all I needed to do was pick the line, line it up and
stroke it. When I made that putt, that was the loudest roar
I've ever heard in my life. I just felt the fist pump would put
the cherry on the cake right there."

Fujikawa is no stranger to making history. Last June, he was
the youngest player ever to compete in the U.S. Open, but he
said even that experience could not compare with this latest
feat.

"Making the cut here has more meaning for me than the U.S. Open,
just because it's my home crowd," he said. "Having all these
people lining the fairway every single hole, it's amazing and
quite intimidating from the tee. But when you walk into the
fairway and they are all cheering you on, it's great.

"I told myself at the beginning of the round, 'Just hit the
shots,' and I knew I had the shots in my bag. I just needed to
execute."

Fujikawa, who claimed he wasn't nervous, posted a 3-under-par
137 at the halfway mark, eight strokes from the lead, and
admitted he was not really thinking of reeling in the
frontrunners.

"I'm probably not going to win," he said to much laughter. "Now
that I've made the cut, I'm going to have fun and do the best I
can."

Fujikawa began playing at the age of eight, when he was not much
shorter than his present height of 5-1.

Unlike Wie, he got into the field the hard way, winning an
amateur qualifier, while Wie waltzed in on a sponsor's
exemption, only to shoot 14-over 154. It is telling that Wie's
post-round news conference was sparsely attended, while it was
standing room only for Fujikawa's. How quickly the focus can
change.

But Fujikawa said he would not give Wie a hard time about his
success in making the cut.

"I'm not that mean," he said.

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