RENO, Nev. — Back in another life, in January, Tadd Fujikawa was asked when he started thinking about golfing for a living with the best players on the planet.

It was about two years ago he recalled then, while in the midst of making the Sony Open in Hawai'i a coming out party of historic proportions.

"I'd say I love this job," said Fujikawa, who had recently turned 16 and was about to finish 20th at Waialae Country Club, and turn back more than $50,000. "It's the greatest thing in the world for a job. Something you really enjoy doing and you can become a millionaire in one week."

His young life has bolted at warp speed since. Three weeks ago Fujikawa — citing a compelling list of reasons ranging from his family's desire to stay in Hawai'i, overwhelming expenses and "begging" his parents to let him follow his dream — announced his intention to turn pro.

Tomorrow, there is no going back. He makes his pro debut playing for part of the $3.5 million purse in the Reno-Tahoe Open at Montreux Golf & Country Club. This is the PGA Tour's second-longest course (7,472 yards) and this week's second-best tour event, after the $8 million World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational.

Fujikawa and his huge smile might be the most well-known face here.

He looks precisely how everyone in Hawai'i remembers. That beguiling grin follows him everywhere. He is 5 feet 1, 155 pounds of feel-good story, from the top of his sunburned face to the bottom of his tour-regulation slacks.

There is no question he would rather be in shorts and a T-shirt, as are all the family and friends that follow him. Reno is in the middle of one of its warmest summers, with temperatures pushing 100 and about a dozen greenskeepers expected to be on the course daily to hand water the grass so it doesn't die.

And still, Fujikawa is the ultimate in cool.

Asked if he'd been to Reno before, he thought long and hard before answering, to laughter from the five members of the media, "I think so, maybe when I was really young."

Asked if people are surprised at his size in person, he just grinned. "Most people say I look bigger on TV," Fujikawa said, then winked. "As long as I look taller on TV that's OK."

He complimented the feel of the course ("bent grass, my favorite grass ever") and kindness of the people, then admitted the altitude (some 5,000 feet) is "challenging and it can be hard to breathe ... at least for me."

In the last year-plus, the little guy who should be starting his junior year at Moanalua High School today — "My teachers aren't very happy right now" — became the youngest to ever qualify for the U.S. Open and second-youngest to make a PGA Tour cut. His startling showing at Sony inspired an invitation to play on the Japan tour, where he missed the cut in April.

Now he is a professional golfer in child-like disguise on a unique course that is equal parts high desert and pine forest. Fujikawa, who doesn't have a driver's license but got a complimentary car like everyone else this week, is right where he wants to be.

"I've always wanted to be able to compete against the best players in the world and hopefully beat them," he said. "I think that's every golfer's dream, to be the best in the world. My decision to turn pro was based on that and I felt that by turning pro I can get further in my golf and achieve more and learn a lot quicker."

The money means little to him but, he quickly admits, much more to his family. There is travel to pay for, and advanced instruction at a high cost.

Even if this doesn't work out, there is no sense that all will be lost. Fujikawa's options would remain all but infinite. His plan is to stay in the moment. He wants to make the cut this week. His goal is to win a tournament in the next year. But mostly, he is trying to tune out everything and focus on hitting the best shot he can, every moment of the next four days.

"I just want to do well and improve," Fujikawa said. "I think I can go out there and have fun, but if I really try on each shot, I think I'm going to improve."

There is something else Fujikawa concentrates on, even more than his game. It was what drew so many to him at Sony, and what keeps people engaged in Hawai'i and here, where he knows no one but still feels warmth — and not just from the summer heat.

Asked if he wanted people in Reno to talk about him or his golf when this historic week is over, Fujikawa didn't hesitate.

"I think more about me. That's more important than golf," he said. "Giving back to the community and treating people the way you would like to be treated. I think giving back to junior golf and getting more people interested in golf is really important. I'd rather have them look at that as opposed to think I'm a really good player with a bad attitude."

And then he left, with his small army of shorts-clad family and friends, grinning.

NOTES

All three Hawai'i players go off the first tee tomorrow afternoon and the 10th tee Friday morning. Tadd Fujikawa starts at 10:50 a.m. Hawai'i time tomorrow and 5:50 a.m. Friday. He will play with Kevin Stadler and Michael Boyd. Punahou graduate Parker McLachlin is in the group ahead, starting at 10:39 a.m. tomorrow and 5:39 a.m. Friday. Castle graduate Dean Wilson starts at 9:33 a.m. tomorrow and 4:33 a.m. Friday.

Fujikawa is not eligible for PGA Tour membership until he turns 18 (Jan. 8, 2009). He can enter next year's Qualifying School. If he finishes 25th or better he can join the tour when he turns 18. Fujikawa can also play up to 12 tour events as a non-member and can try to qualify as much as he wants.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.