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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, January 14, 2002

Cell phone call makes stroke of a difference

 •  Kelly makes breakthrough in Sony Open and PGA
 •  Sony renewed through 2006
 •  Pro golfers passionate about football, too
 •  Ferd Lewis: Kelly achieves 'classic finish'

Advertiser Staff

Call it the $288,000 phone call.

That's the difference between the $720,000 winner's share of the Sony Open in Hawaii and what John Cook will receive for a second-place finish that came ringing with controversy.

A difference that might have been contributed to by a prohibited cell phone that rang in the gallery while Cook was in the middle of a backswing on the 17th hole yesterday.

Cook ended up bogeying the hole while the leader, Jerry Kelly, parred the 16th hole he was on to open up a two-shot lead in a tournament he won by one stroke over Cook.

Cell phones, radios and cameras are prohibited on the Waialae Country Club course as at all PGA Tour venues, a rule that is posted at spectator entrances.

"(It) went off in my backswing, right at the point of no return," Cook said. "Not even Tiger (Woods) could have saved that one. It could have been anywhere in the golf swing but where it was."

Cook immediately let out a gutteral scream, looked to his right where the sound originated and then stabbed the club back into the bag with clinched-jaw disgust.

"I'm sure the kid feels bad," Cook said of the spectator who he described as a male in his "late teens or early 20s. I didn't see him until I got to the side by the ropes."

Cook said: "I'm lucky the rope stopped me because I was going (after him). I'd have felt worse now if I'd done what I wanted to do."

Said Kelly: "That's awful. Skin him (the spectator). There was a let down for me when I found that out because nobody wants to win that way. I want him (Cook) to hit all his shots that he's capable of hitting. (But) somebody else intervened and I don't think that's very cool."

Cook said: "I don't think I would have been that upset about finishing second, but this was pretty bittersweet. ... Nothing against Jerry, I'm really happy for Jerry. It's a great win and he deserves it."

Cook, a member of the Tour's policy board, said: "We talked about it (on the board) all the time. How can we control it? Without putting up metal detectors, what are you going to do? That's the way it goes. It is unfortunate."

• Wilson, Ishii back to Japan: Kane'ohe's Dean Wilson said he has written to the organizers of all the West Coast PGA Tour events asking for exemptions. If he is not invited to play, he plans to go to the Hawai'i Pearl Open (Feb. 8-10) and/or the Hilo Invitational (Feb. 16-17).

Wilson is 67th in the World Golf Ranking. If he gets into the Top 64, he will qualify for the World Match Play Championship, Feb. 18-24, in Carlsbad, Calif. He earned $33,714 in his first Sony Open, shooting 67-67 on the weekend to finish in a tie for 23rd at 6-under 274.

"It was great being inside the ropes this year, rather than being outside watching everyone," Wilson said. "I played some good golf, and some bad golf. I'm excited. Hopefully I can use it as a springboard to play well this year."

He starts back on the Japan Golf Tour in March. Wilson, Rookie of the Year on the JGT in 2000, was third on the money list last year.

'Aiea's David Ishii is also planning to return to the JGT in March. Ishii, the 1990 Hawaiian Open champion, tied for 60th this week, at 69—281. He won $8,520.

Ishii said he will concentrate on his putting heading into the season, and as he prepares to try and qualify for the American Senior PGA Tour in three years. The best thing he got out of his latest Sony experience, Ishii said, was gaining confidence on the greens with his new extended (41 inches) putter. "It feels more stable," Ishii said. "When I'm nervous, it doesn't shake as much. ... Putting is the biggest thing. I need to get to where I'm not anxious over putts."

As Pearl Country Club's Director of Golf, Ishii will again be tournament director of the Hawai'i Pearl Open, and will not play.

Japan's Hidemichi Tanaka will not defend his Pearl title. Tanaka qualified for the PGA Tour this year and plans to play the Buick Invitational that week.

• Kuchar rebounds: What a difference a year makes. Last year Matt Kuchar, a freshly-minted graduate of Georgia Tech, began his PGA Tour pursuit at the Sony Open with a sponsor's exemption but missed the cut.

He made enough — $572,669 — in the other 10 events he appeared in (making six cuts) to earn exempt status this year. It paid off yesterday, his first tournament of the season, with a 10-under par 270 fourth-place finish worth $165,333.

• Hawai'i's shining star: Hawai'i State Women's Stroke Play Golf Champion Michelle Wie was featured in a brief profile during ESPN's coverage of the Sony Open yesterday.

The 12-year-old Punahou School student was shown playing in Tuesday's Pro-Junior competition, and heralded as a player to watch.

• Korea's Choi fares well: K.J. Choi, the first Korean to earn a PGA Tour card, fired a final-round 5-under-par 65 to finish in a tie for seventh place and earned $112,333, the second biggest paycheck of his five-year career.