Mauna Kea Resort's teaching pro, arguably the best player in the state the past few years, pulled 14-year-old Michelle Wie as his playing partner yesterday and today. While Hayashi, 41, was hampered by his putting yesterday, which relegated him to a 3-over-par 75, Wie cruised to a relatively low-maintenance 72.

To add well-meaning insult to injury, during the press conference Wie kept referring to the graciousness of her partners i—"Uncle Kevin" and Craig Bowden.

After digesting all that, Hayashi sat down to lunch. A Waialae Pie — strawberry and Tahitian Vanilla ice cream topped by orange sorbet — arrived at his table.

"This is from Michelle Wie," the waitress said. "She wanted me to tell Uncle Kevin, 'Thank you for letting me beat you.' "

Only it wasn't from Wie. Hayashi's friend, David Ishii, sent the pie over.

"Kevin likes ice cream and dessert," Ishii said. "I figured he needed something to cheer him up. He ate the whole thing before he got his lunch."

Hayashi took his day philosophically. "That's OK, I'm not going to be the only one. She's going to beat a lot of guys out here."

Cute as a button

Hayashi and his caddie, Elton Tanaka, were two of the local golfers sporting "Michelle, No Ka Oi" buttons.

"We just wanted to show some support for her and what she was doing," Hayashi said.

He said the buttons , a brainchild of Warren Haruki, were made in limited supply. They are take-offs on the "Go Annika" button Hawai'i golfer Dean Wilson wore while playing in Annika Sorenstam's threesome at Colonial in May.

Sorenstam, an LPGA Hall of Famer, was the first woman to play a PGA Tour event in 58 years.

Not bad for Baddeley

Aaron Baddeley came within a few millimeters of winning last year's Sony Open in Hawai'i, finally falling in a playoff when Ernie Els drained a 43-foot putt. It was Baddeley's first tournament as an official PGA Tour member.

He came back this year with a vengeance. Baddeley was 5-under par going into the final hole — a par-5 that played the second-easiest on the course yesterday. He bogeyed that "eventful" hole, needing an eight-foot putt to do it, and fell into a bunch tied for third three shots behind leader Carlos Franco.

Baddeley claimed he has nothing but "good thoughts" about last year, "except for one putt."

Pressed on if it was Els' putt, or Baddeley's 10-footer to tie that came up a smidge short, he changed his mind.

"OK," he grinned. "Two putts."

Baddeley won nearly half his $989,000 here last year. He was later forced to take three months off when he injured his ankle playing Ultimate Frisbee.

"If I'd won here I probably wouldn't have hurt my ankle," Baddeley said. "I would have been at the Masters that week."

Short putts

The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties after today's round. Last year, 77 made the cut at even-par 140. ... Brett Quigley's team won Wednesday's rain-shortened Pro-Am. Quigley and amateurs Blenn Fujimoto, Ira Helfer, Jiro Noguchi and Waialae Country Club president Cedric Choi shot 11-under-par 24 in the nine-hole event, which was originally scheduled for 18 holes. ... Michelle Wie played on an amateur team with pro Skip Kendall. Her team shot 8-under 27 and tied for fifth. ... Among the players Wie beat yesterday were Kendall and Matt Kuchar. ... Defending champion Ernie Els closed with a birdie to shoot 67. Stuart Appleby, who won last week's Mercedes Championships, birdied two of his final four holes to shoot 71.

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• Michelle Wie had Wednesday's wind storm on her mind when she was asked her plans after shooting 72 in the first round: