Sony may set Hawai'i crowd record

Advertiser Staff

Thanks to Michelle Wie, this year's Sony Open in Hawai'i is expected to be the top-drawing golf event in Hawai'i's 40-year PGA Tournament history.

Friends Scott Simpson and David Ishii, both 48 years old, finished at 1-under-par 279 in the Sony Open in Hawai'i yesterday. Simpson is a member of the PGA Tour while Ishii plays on the Japan Golf Tour. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I would definitely think so," said Dale Nagata, a Sony spokesman. "The crowd was very good, again."

Figures for yesterday's final were not immediately available.

Entering yesterday, this year's tournament had already attracted 35,642, more fans than any year except 2002.

The final day has traditionally the best draw and officials said they believe the crowd was in excess of 10,000 yesterday.

Through the first four days, the 2004 tournament had drawn 625 more than last year's five dates.

Friday's second round, where the 14-year old Wie attempted to make the cut, coming one stroke short, drew 10,955, a difference of 4,018 over 2003.

Even with Wie's elimination, interest held up in the tournament with 10,519 turning out for Saturday's round, 2,801 above last year.

Going on tour was an easy sell

Even on Harrison Frazar's most trying days on the golf course he knows he has it a lot better than what he could be doing.

And yesterday was one of the more exasperating days of his nine-year professional golf career. It was the third time he's taken a lead into the final round and come away without a tournament victory.

"Obviously I'm disappointed," Frazar said after losing a three-hole playoff to Ernie Els. "This is going to hurt for a while. ... "

But it is better than what Frazar said he was doing in the real estate business — "working 80 hours a week, 70 hours a week sitting in front of a computer screen crunching numbers for office building acquisitions (for) about $20,000, $21,000 a year."

Yesterday, Frazar earned $518,400 for his second-place finish.

Frazar was an All-American golfer at the University of Texas and roommate of Justin Leonard before going into the real estate business.

"My boss was a good friend and has a reputation, if you work hard and you put in the hours, he takes care of his people," Frazar said.

"But my heart was calling me back to golf."

Ishii, Simpson tie for 59th

Close friends — and Champions Tour hopefuls — David Ishii and Scott Simpson tied for 59th. The 48-year-olds finished at 1-under 279 and won $10,464.

It was the first time Ishii, the 1990 Hawaiian Open champion, has shot under par since the tournament became the Sony Open in Hawai'i in 1999. He has finished higher, tying for 48th in 1999.

Ishii birdied the last two holes yesterday to reach red numbers. He birdied the par-3 17th three of the four days.

"It's been good to me," Ishii said.

Ishii will return to the Japan Golf Tour Organization, where he has won 18 times, in April. As Pearl Country Club's director of golf, he runs the Hawai'i Pearl Open three weeks from now. Ishii says he also plans to play this year, along with Wie. Greg Meyer is the defending champion.

Wie by the numbers

Wie may not have played the final two days, but her impact is still being measured. Wie shot 72-68 the first two rounds to finish at even-par, and one short of making the cut.

ShotLink Stats offered more insight into Wie's historic appearance this week at Waialae. Among all the numbers from the first two rounds, these stood out:

• Wie's average of 33 feet, 8 inches per approach shot ranked 143rd out of the 143 players in the field;

• Of the 20 greens, Wie hit in regulation, she got only two approach shots inside 10 feet, while eight were more than 40 feet away;

• Wie ranked first in the field with a total of 182 feet, 10 inches worth of putts. That's an average of 10 feet, 2 inches per putt. In the second round, she sank all 14 putts she saw from inside 10 feet — and two from more than 50 feet.

An additional ShotLink fact noted that Annika Sorenstam's longest drive at the 2003 Bank of America Colonial was 283 yards. Wie launched 10 drives over 283 yards at Waialae and had three over 300 yards. On the greens, Sorenstam made just two putts longer than eight feet.

Short putts

Hawai'i's mini tour moves to the Big Island this week with the Champions Tour. The MasterCard Championship starts Friday at Hualalai Golf Club. Dana Quigley is defending champion. ... Ernie Els is the first to defend a Sony Open title. Hubert Green (1978 and '79) and Corey Pavin (1986 and '87) won consecutive Hawaiian Opens at Waialae Country Club. ... Els is also the first since Tiger Woods to defend a tour title. ... Els has played at Waialae four times and is averaging 66.5. His 16th straight round in the 60s yesterday broke a tour record held by Tom Lehman. ... In his four starts here, Els has won $2,062,000. Yesterday's victory moved him past Nick Price and Jim Furyk to fifth on the tour's career money list, with $19,622,767. ... Vijay Singh tied for 10th with a final-round 66 that included eight birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey — on the opening hole. It was Singh's ninth consecutive Top-10 finish. ... Until yesterday, the leader going into the last round had won the past nine PGA Tour events. ... Craig Bowden, who played with Hawai'i's Michelle Wie and Kevin Hayashi the first two days, finished a career-best 15th. His $76,800 paycheck was more than he won his previous two PGA Tour seasons (1997 and 2000). ... For the week, par-70 Waialae played to an average of 69.508. The par-4 first hole was the most difficult (4.337) and the par-5 ninth the easiest (4.324).