RENO, Nev. — Lucas Glover is the highest-ranked player in the Reno-Tahoe Open, which begins today at Montreux Golf and Country Club. That means Tadd Fujikawa, known here as "The Little Guy," is big news.

That worries Hawai'i's Dean Wilson and Parker McLachlin, who sound more like big brothers than fellow pros when they talk about the Moanalua High School sophomore making his pro debut this week.

Wilson, a Castle graduate, and McLachlin, the 1996 state high school champion for Punahou, are sincerely concerned about Fujikawa's golf welfare. When he declared himself a pro three weeks ago — six months after turning 16 and sharing 20th place at the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawai'i — both Hawai'i pros were stunned.

"My reaction was a little bit of shock and a little bit of disappointment," said Wilson, 32, who has been playing professional tours 15 years and is ranked 82nd in the world. "My advice would be to just keep playing at the level you are playing. You did do something really good qualifying for Sony and playing well and finishing 20th. It makes it more special just because of his age. But every week we have someone finishing 20th. That doesn't mean they're ready to tackle the world."

Fujikawa is convinced he can tackle this tour and others around the world, starting with a tournament that runs the same week that 84 of the planet's best golfers are at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Glover, with a world ranking of 54, is one of the most well-known players here and Wilson might be another. Both are great guys, but hardly household names.

At the Pro-Am pairing party Tuesday, the amateurs who drew the first pick enthusiastically chose Fujikawa as their pro. With about 20 people following him yesterday — most friends and family — he appeared to have the largest gallery on a mostly empty course.

Chances are Fujikawa was the only pro who, when asked to take a photo after his second hole, not only agreed to the delay but stuck around trying to repair the balky camera. For sure he was the only one who, at 5 feet 1, was a full foot shorter than every one of his partners.

Fujikawa joked about jumping up when the shutter moved.

"He looks like Doug Flutie with his offensive line," a spectator yelled.

He will need more protection than that as he embarks on his rare and historical tour, according to Wilson and McLachlin.

"If he had called me, I would have said you have your whole life in front of you," McLachlin recalled. "There's no reason to feel you're missing out on anything now. Go out and do things kids your age do. Experience college. That's a huge part of life that people go through and think fondly back on.

"Do those things that show you're a world beater and progress to the next step for the health of your mental game. Why do you want to start getting beat up by pros?"

Both Hawai'i pros worry about a multitude of challenges Fujikawa will face, from his age and size to renting a car, "fitting" his game to diverse courses, staying positive against hundreds of guys with more experience and grinding out a good round on those days when "The Zone" is way off in the twilight.

Wilson doesn't want to see the golf world and media "exploit" Fujikawa's age. He describes professional golf as a "pie" where talent is one piece and "there's 15 other things that go into it." And, "at age 16, I don't feel like you're fully developed yet. I have a real sense of worry."

McLachlin feels Fujikawa's biggest battle will be with himself, in a game that rarely gives up anything and on tours that demand everything.

"At the PGA Tour level they usually set courses up to really challenge every part of your game," McLachlin said. "You're hitting a bunch of kinds of shots. ... Sometimes you might not have your 'A' game and you have to find a way to grind through it. It's fairly easy when you have your 'A' game and things are going well, but you might only have that once or twice a year for a full week's time. You've got to learn to still be competitive."

Fujikawa's learning curve will have to be steep. For all their concern, Wilson and McLachlin wouldn't put it past him.

"Hopefully he's going to prove Parker and I both wrong," Wilson said. "Have some great success and move on to good things."

NOTES

Australian Jason Day became the youngest winner of any tournament sanctioned by the PGA Tour when he captured the Nationwide Tour's Legend Financial Group Classic last month. At 19 years, 7 months and 26 days, Day was nearly two years younger than James Oh, who won the 2003 Mark Christopher Charity Classic at 21 years, 5 months, 27 days. The youngest winner of a PGA Tour stop was Johnny McDermott in the 1911 U.S. Open (19 years, 10 months).

Kane'ohe's Dean Wilson graduated from Brigham Young in 1992 and that experience, playing in the high altitude at Utah, makes him comfortable at Montreux's gut-busting 5,000-foot elevation. Wilson actually prefers it. "The last time I played in altitude was at Castle Pines (Colorado) and that was good," he said. That was Wilson's lone PGA Tour win, last year at The International. Wilson finished ninth here in 2005 and 14th the year before. Last year, he qualified to play at Bridgestone the same week.

Tadd Fujikawa's caddie this week is Montreux assistant pro Travis Hansen, who helped Team Fujikawa to a second-place finish in Monday's Pro-Am with kids from the First Tee program. Most of those kids were older than Fujikawa. The family is staying with a couple who lives on the 12th hole and offered their house via e-mail. Fujikawa extended practice time by playing the 12th in the evening.

The Golf Channel will broadcast all four rounds on a delay basis.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.