'AIEA — A few uppercuts — to say nothing of a few thousand people — were MIA, but Tadd Fujikawa still had his golden-boy golf touch in yesterday's opening round of the 29th annual Hawai'i Pearl Open.

Fujikawa, 16, fired a 3-under-par 69 and is five off the lead of Junpei Takayama going into today's second round. The Moanalua sophomore who caught the golf world's imagination at last month's Sony Open in Hawai'i, when he became the youngest in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut, tees off today at 12:30 p.m.

Among others, Fujikawa will be chasing Japan pros Takayama, whose 64 was a career low, and Takashi Oguro (65), and Oahu Country Club head pro Andrew Feldmann (66), whose six birdies all came the last 10 holes.

That 6-under score, which Fujikawa shot twice at Sony to soar up the leaderboard, could have been his yesterday but for a hiccup on Pearl Country Club's hill. Fujikawa, followed by a gallery of 40, was 4-under going to the 15th. He drilled in a 35-foot eagle putt on the first hole and birdied 10 and 12 on the back.

But his drive got away on the 15th (395-yard par-4) and his second shot clipped branches and stopped 50 yards short. His approach gave him a 12-footer for par. He missed that and the two-footer coming back. His tee shot at the 16th (194-yard par-3) sliced into the water and he needed a 10-footer for bogey.

Fujikawa, who became the youngest to ever qualify for the U.S. Open last year, went into Pearl focused on "beating himself" as opposed to beating others. He did that for the most part, but admitted he "was pummeled" by the 15th and 16th before the clutch bogey putt re-energized him.

His "bounceback" tendency, shown in spectacular high-definition at Sony, returned in vivid detail yesterday. He launched his second shot on the 17th (519-yard par-5) to the back fringe and drained the eagle putt from 15.

That brought the return of his broad smile. Fujikawa walked over to his grandmother and gave her a hug.

"There are not as many people, not as many cameras here," Fujikawa said when asked to compare this with his breakout week at Waialae Country Club. "The course is not as hard. Sony wasn't unbelievably hard like the U.S. Open, but the course today, compared to Sony, played a little easier. My score wasn't as good, but that's OK."

His post-Sony confidence is as high as the gray sky that shaded Pearl yesterday. Fujikawa feels his game, groomed by he and mother Lori the past few months, is the best it has ever been. His 20th-place finish at Sony — also where he finished at Pearl last year — is now a remarkable reminder of how right he might be.

"I feel more confident over all my shots. My game now is pretty good," Fujikawa said. "When I step over the shot I know I can hit the shot. I really don't have to be afraid of anything — left or right or whatever.

"Being out there and experiencing what it's like to play against the top pros is phenomenal. It's a really good stepping stone for me to see where my game is at and if I can compete against the best. I feel pretty confident I can do that. I'm not sure my game is ready as of right now. Hopefully I can get to the point where I can win tournaments everytime I play. When I get there, I'll be ready to play against the best in the world."

Pearl offers up many of the best from Hawai'i and Japan, pro and amateur.

Takayama, 23, holed a bunker shot to eagle the first and fed on that momentum the rest of his bogey-free round. He sank six birdie putts from within 12 feet — five on the back nine. Going low came as something of a surprise on his first trip to Hawai'i: In three practice rounds Takayama failed to break par.

Oguro, 26, chipped in once and also went bogey-free. So did Feldmann, who has never finished in the Top 20 here. He needed just 25 putts.

In contrast, Hilo's Greg Meyer — a shot behind Feldmann — needed 33. The four-time Pearl champ shot 67 to share a four-way tie for fourth. Meyer two-putted for birdie three times, including the par-4 seventh. The longest putt he made was five feet.

Katsumasa Miyamoto and Keiichiro Fukabori, in the Top 20 on the Japan golf tour's money list last year, are in the Top 11 here. Ai Ogawa, an 11-year JLPGA pro, is tied with Fujikawa. Tuesday's qualifying co-medalist played the final eight holes in 4-under.

Cyd Okino, a Kaimuki Middle School eighth grader, opened with 80. Okino is the reigning Hawai'i State Open women's champion.

NOTEBOOK

David Ishii, Pearl's Director of Golf and a six-time winner of the Hawai'i Pearl Open, decided not to play because of a bad right knee. Ishii was inducted into the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame last year when he turned 50. He also took fourth here. Ishii plans to have arthroscopic surgery Monday to repair a torn meniscus, which he felt last month after the final round of the Turtle Bay Championship.

Tadd Fujikawa plays with Hawai'i's Jerry Mullen (71), Japan pro Hideki Kase (73) and 14-year-old Japan amateur Yuki Sato (76) the first two days. Sato, who played the front nine in 4-over 40 yesterday, is the youngest playing partner Fujikawa remembers in an open event.

Defending champion Tomohiro Maruyama opened with 70. Yuki Ito, 19, is going for his third straight low-amateur title, and opened with 72. Ito is a college student at Nihon Daigaku.

The field of 189 men and three women will be cut to the top 80 and ties after the second round, with the top 15 amateurs guaranteed a tee time in tomorrow's final round.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.