He won't know until the last tee time today (7:40 a.m., Hawai'i time) if he can play. But it is worth the price of a plane ticket from Las Vegas where he now resides.

Heading into the event at Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club, Wilson is ranked 65th on the 2003 PGA money list with $489,797 after making the cut in eight of 12 events, including last week's Colonial where Annika didn't.

When you figure that $515,445 was the magic number last year to make the top 125 list and keep playing privileges, the 33-year-old Kane'ohe native is tracking quite well toward his goal in his first season on the American tour.

Of the 31 Q-School graduates — Wilson finished tied for 11th — only Carl Pettersson, who ranks 46th, and Brenden Pappas (55th) have earned more money than Wilson this year.

Wilson could have ranked higher. A back spasm forced him to withdraw from the Honda Classic after he had shot 8-under par for 36 holes. At least it didn't count among the cuts missed.

One cut he did miss was the Sony Open in Hawai'i in his first event as a tour member. It proved painfully disappointing for Wilson, a Castle High School graduate who was a teammate for three seasons at BYU with reigning Masters champion Mike Weir.

Considering that one of the difficulties facing tour rookies is playing golf courses for the first time, to miss at a site that he had been more than familiar with, Waialae Country Club, was particularly galling. He didn't make it to the weekend again in his second event at the A&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Wilson finally broke through at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, finishing tied for 44th to receive a modest paycheck of $13,605. He followed that up with his best finish of the year to date — tied for sixth — in the Chrysler Classic of Tucson to earn $97,125. Then he earned $77,500 at the Ford Championship at Doral.

After withdrawing from the Honda Classic, Wilson made the cuts at the Bay Hill Invitational and the MCI Heritage, only to miss out at Houston and New Orleans. But he has been on a roll since, tying for seventh in the Wachovia Championship for his biggest paycheck to date — $168,700 — and posting T30 and T21 finishes at the Byron Nelson and Colonial.

Wilson's mom, Grace, was in the gallery during his history-making role last week in Fort Worth, Texas. "He had a great and special week and is completely exhausted but happy," she said.

Her husband, Don, added that about 10 family members, including Dean's older brother, Kess, plan to follow Wilson at the Las Vegas Invitational in October. "You can bet on that," the elder Wilson said.

Tee time for Travis

TRAVIS TOYAMA

The 16-year-old University High School junior drew the top seed for the 95th Manoa Cup at the Oahu Country Club.

The qualifying round to determine the 64-player field for match-play competition is Monday morning.

The first two rounds will be played Tuesday with the third round scheduled for Wednesday, the quarterfinals Thursday and the 36-hole semifinals next Friday. The championship match, also 36 holes, is Saturday.

Despite his age, Toyama is aware of the history of the Manoa Cup, emblematic of the state amateur stroke-play championship, which was first held in 1907.

He knows the tournament has a great tradition, one in which every amateur likes to have in his victory resumé. He also knows the pitfalls that face defending champions.

"The trend in the past is that defending champions always seem to lose in the second round," said Toyama, who won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu individual title last month.

Also entered are former champions Brandan Kop, who won the event four times, including back-to-back in 1997 and 1998, Guy Yamamoto, Damien Victorino and Ryan Koshi. Joining Toyama in the youth movement are high school state boys champion Troy Higashiyama of Mid-Pacific and Kailua's Chase Chulakote, who won the O'ahu Interscholastic Association crown.