Ten years ago he was seemingly an instant sensation at the 2007 Hawaiian Open.
Looked like a munchkin in golf spikes, not a whole lot taller than his golf bag.
The player in question was none other than Tadd Fujikawa. He became an instant darling at age 16. There he was in a PGA Tour event and the kid made the cut, making him the second youngest-ever to do so.
He would do better than that as the week progressed. He actually went on and finished in a tie for 20th. Wow.
Surely another youngster destined for the PGA Tour, right?
Wrong.
Fast forward 10 years and Tadd Fujikawa, now age 26, is battling in anonymity on the Mackenzie Tour, the 2017 version of what used to be the Canadian Tour, now absorbed into the PGA Tour as a developmental tour. Fujikawa has made one cut in six starts there.
The good news for the vertically-challenged Fujikawa is that he made it into this week’s Sony Open the hard way — Monday qualifying.
He got through a pre-qualifying event then survived a playoff to get one of two available spots and he’ll be in the field starting Thursday at Waialae.
Bad news is there’s a whole lot of talent out there, including Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker, among others who will be out there this week.
Good luck, Tadd, you’ll need it.
