Fujikawa Outshines Wie at Sony Open

Choi Kyung-ju (37) is likely to finish another game in the top ten in two weeks. At the third round of Sony Open held yesterday in Waialea Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii, he tied for 8th place with seven under par, 203 strokes with an eagle, two birdies, and two bogeys.

He is six shots behind the leader Charles Howell III (197 strokes, 13 under par), who is followed by Luke Donald from England by one shot.

Choi was in second place on the first day with six under par but then fell to the 12th place in the second round with five under par. Yesterday, he made it into top ten again by running 3.6-meter eagle putt into the cup at the 18th hole.

Tadd Fujikawa, the second youngest player to make the PGA cut at the age of 16 years and four-days, kept chugging along. The youngest qualifier at a PGA event was 15-year old Bob Panasiuk at the Canadian Open in 1957. Fujikawa, a Hawaii-born Japanese-American amateur player, shot four under par in the third round to tie for eighth place with Choi and Craig Kanada from the U.S.

Despite his relative short height of 150 centimeters, he fared well with long drive shots averaging 284.2 yard and 79.6 percent of greens in regulation, though his drive shot accuracy was a mediocre 50.0 percent.

Fujikawa said he just tried to be relaxed and have fun at the game after making the cut.

On the other hand, Michelle Wie (18) was again frustrated at her fourth Sony Open. Her score was less-than-average with eight over par on the first day and six over par on the second. She missed the cut, this time by 14 shots, with final score of 14 over par 154 shots, ranking 139 out of 142 players.

beetlez@donga.com