Tadd Fujikawa

Tadd Fujikawa (born January 8, 1991) is an American professional golfer. Playing as an amateur at age 15, he qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open, the youngest golfer since 1941 to do so. In 2007, he made the cut in a PGA Tour event at the Sony Open in Hawaii. At the age of 16 years, 4 days, he was the second youngest player to ever achieve that feat. Fujikawa is a junior at Moanalua High School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Early life

Fujikawa was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was born three months premature and doctors gave him a 50-50 chance of survival. He weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces and was so small that he could fit in his grandfather's palm. His parents worried that he would grow up with a mental disability.] Partially as a result of his premature birth, at age 17 Fujikawa stands only 5 feet 1 inch/1.55 m tall and 155 lbs.

Amateur career

In 2006, Fujikawa qualified for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot by winning the Hawaii sectional qualifier(67-69-136), becoming the youngest player since 1941 to qualify for the tournament. At the U.S. Open, Fujikawa shot 81-77(158) and missed the cut by nine strokes. []

Professional career

2007

Fujikawa made his second PGA Tour start (2006 U.S. Open was the first) at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii, having gained entry by shooting 67 in the Open Qualifier ( [http://www.pgatour.com/players/pgatour-exempt/ PGA Tour Exemption Category #17] ). [] In the second round of the Sony Open itself, Fujikawa became the youngest player in nearly 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut. A birdie on the 16th hole put him within the cut line, but it was his 15-foot eagle on the 18th hole that was his most memorable shot of the day. With that shot, Fujikawa secured a 4-under-par 66 and made the cut by three shots. [cite web
last = Ferguson
first = Doug
title = Little man Fujikawa is huge hit at Waialae
publisher = Associated Press/Yahoo
date = 2007-01-13
url = http://www.pgatour.com/2007/r/01/13/fujikawa_feature/index.html
accessdate = 2007-01-13 ]

Fujikawa followed up his history-making cut by shooting a second straight 66 in the third round, a score which, on that day, was bettered only by tournament leader Charles Howell III. Fujikawa made a 51-foot birdie on the 11th hole, finishing the third round tied for eighth place, along with Chad Campell and Tom Pernice Jr. []

Fujikawa shot 2-over-72 in Sunday's final round,which only included 2 birdies. He finished the tournament tied for 20th place at 5-under-275. []

One month after his record-breaking showing at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Fujikawa won the Hawaii Pearl Open, Hawaii's the most lucrative local golf tournament, held annually since 1979. Fujikawa was the first amateur since 1992 to win the tournament.]

On July 12, 2007 Fujikawa announced that he would be turning pro. He made his debut at the Reno-Tahoe Open where he missed the cut. []

After missing the cut in in each of his first three events as a professional, Fujikawa recorded a hole in one on the 17th hole in the first round of this Nationwide Tour event. He went on to shoot 70 and 71 in the first two rounds and missed the cut again, this time by 3 strokes.

In September 2007, he hit an albatross at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland on the European Tour. It was not enough to make the cut though. [cite web | title = Golf-Rare albatross for American teenager Fujikawa | publisher = Reuters | date = 2007-09-07 | url = http://uk.reuters.com/article/UK_GOLF/idUKL0790133620070907 | accessdate = 2007-09-07] He also missed the cut at the Children's Miracle Network Classic which was the last official 2007 PGA Tour event.

2008

On April 20, 2008 Fujikawa made his first cut as a professional and earned his first professional victory by winning the 50th annual Mid-Pacific Open in Hawaii. The Mid-Pacific Open is tournament run by the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Hawaii, with a mixed field of amateurs and professionals, mostly from Hawaii. Fujikawa's final score for the tournament was ten under-par 278. The second place finisher was former PGA Tour tournament winner , 52-year-old David Ishii. At age 17, Fujikawa became the youngest winner in tournament history.Punahou High School seniors Stephanie Kono and Anna Jang also made history at the tournament as the first females to play and Kono was the first female to make a cut. Kono finished 33rd.cite web
last = Kwon
first = Bill
title = 50th Mid-Pacific Open attracts historic field
publisher = Honolulu Advertiser
date = 2008-04-03
url = http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/SPORTS0901/804030354/1055/SPORTSFRONT
accessdate = 2008-04-22 ] Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.