SONY OPEN
Ex-Kane'ohe resident tied for 38th

By Bill Kwon
Special to The Advertiser

Dean Wilson watches his drive off the first tee during the first round of the Sony Open in Hawai'i on Thursday. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

For Dean Wilson, it felt more like playing a round of golf with an old friend instead of playing for big bucks in the $4 million Sony Open in Hawai'i, the PGA Tour's first full-field tournament of the 2002 season.

As the last of the 73 golfers who made the 36-hole cut Friday, Wilson had been scheduled to play by himself instead of being paired in the first twosome off the tee in yesterday's third round at the Waialae Country Club.

Solitaire is for cards and the birds, not for golf and birdies, according to the 32-year-old Kane'ohe native. So he asked that someone accompany him in his round.

"I asked for a marker. I just asked for one of the guys in the (pro) shop that I knew. The PGA has to OK it and they did," said Wilson, a Monday qualifier who finished third on the 2001 Japan Golf Tour money list.

Wilson's glad the PGA officials agreed. He birdied the final four holes to shoot a 3-under 67 for a 54-hole total of 207 to be in a good position to earn a decent payday in his first PGA tournament appearance at Waialae. His best PGA showing is a tie for 30th for $30,055 in last year's U.S. Open.

"I like having someone out there. I didn't want to play by myself. If I had to, it would have been a bit hard. And it was really nice to have Chuck. I've known him for a long time," said Wilson, who lives in Las Vegas during the off season.

Wilson and Chuck Davis, an assistant pro at Waialae, whipped through the golf course in three hours and 20 minutes — 25 minutes less than the pace of play required of club members.

"I struggled on the front, I didn't hit it too good," said Wilson, who added that it was the first time he ever had been in the situation of having to play lonesome golf. "I was scrambling a bit."

After birdieing the third hole, Wilson had back-to-back bogeys at seven and eight.

"I hit it way left and left myself a long putt at seven," said Wilson, who three-putted the par-3 hole. A bad drive to the left led to his bogey-5 at the 459-yard eighth hole.

Making the turn at one-over 36, Wilson told himself to play good golf, try to hit the ball down the middle of the fairway. His game plan paid off.

He had good birdie chances at 12, 13 and 14, but couldn't get his putts to drop. Then he began his roll.

"It came together at the end," said Wilson, who sank birdie putts of seven, 20 and 12 feet at 15, 16 and 17. At the par-5 18th, Wilson nearly reached the fringe of the green with his second shot and chipped to within a foot for his fourth straight birdie and a 31, the best back-nine score before Jim Furyk came in with a 30 nearly four hours later. Toms, who played with Furyk, also carded a 31.

Wilson's 207 total isn't quite leader board material, not with four golfers shooting below 200. He's tied for 38th, but could move up the scoreboard with another round in the mid-60s today.

"It's a good thing for tomorrow," Wilson said about his birdie-binge finish.

"Hopefully I can play well tomorrow. I want to finish off and have a good tournament. I need to hit the ball a little better, to get in position more. I've been all over the place and scrambling," he said.

A good showing this week would feel like a redemption of sorts for Wilson, who had to qualify his way into the tournament instead of getting a sponsor's exemption despite some impressive credentials.

He is tied at 207 along with Hiroyuki Fujita, the only one of five Japanese pros receiving exemptions to survive the cut and play the weekend.