'AIEA — With a rare flair for the dramatic, and an even rarer gift for golf, Tadd Fujikawa continued to fulfill his vast potential yesterday, winning the 29th annual Hawai'i Pearl Open by a shot over Greg Meyer.

And what a shot it was. Fujikawa put himself in position to win with a front-nine charge, did everything but put it away on the back nine, then clinched it on his final shot to the final hole, which he stuck a foot from the pin for a birdie putt as about 200 watched in awe at Pearl Country Club.

The 16-year-old was followed by a crowd of more than 100 all day, including 25 family members. It was a small percentage of the mobs that watched him become the youngest amateur in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut last month at the Sony Open in Hawai'i, but it still seemed large because, without ropes, the crowd could get so close.

Fujikawa is the first amateur since Damien Jamila in 1992 to win the $80,000 tournament, which attracts a huge contingent of Japanese pros. Meyer, a four-time Pearl champion, got a $12,000 consolation prize and a trip to Japan as the low pro. It will come in handy. The Hilo pro is a member of the Japan Golf Tour Organization and finished in the top 50 on the money list last year.

But that, and a final-round 67, was only good for second against a 5-foot-1 Menehune from Moanalua High School.

The totally unintimidated Fujikawa put Pearl on The Golf Channel by following up his 20th-place finish at Sony with a win in Hawai'i's toughest local tournament. He closed with a 4-under-par 68 for a tournament total of 11-under 205.

"The best part of his game is his mental approach," said Garret Hayashi, the Mid-Pacific golf coach and Fujikawa's caddie at Sony and Pearl. "He is really mentally tough. To him, anything is possible. It's fearless golf. Him being 16 I think has a little to do with it, but a lot of it is just Tadd."

Three eagles the first two days put Fujikawa at 7-under and three shots off Junpei Takayama's lead going into the final round. Fujikawa caught Takayama at 8-under with birdie on the seventh hole, passed him with another birdie on the next hole and refused to budge with a series of birdie lip-outs and one clutch 6-foot par putt over the next seven holes.

Fujikawa's tee shot on the par-3, 194-yard 16th hole, which he had hacked to the tune of 3-over the first two days, stopped 2 feet from the pin. At that moment someone told him Meyer, playing two groups ahead, had reached 10-under with birdies at Nos. 14 and 15.

It didn't faze Fujikawa at all. He was already trying to hit every shot in the hole.

"I just tried to go for everything, no holding back," the Moanalua sophomore said. "That really, really helped me today."

Fujikawa sank the short birdie putt to tie for first and launched a huge drive into the right rough on the par-5 17th. He punched a 9-iron over the bunker, 10 feet from eagle, but gunned the first putt so hard it rolled right over the center of the hole and 6 feet by it. He missed that and settled for a three-putt par, kicking and slapping his putter as he walked to the final tee.

"I was too excited," Fujikawa admitted. "It was a really good chance for me to pretty much secure the win. I went for it and hit it 6 feet by and I didn't hit a very good second putt coming back. That's golf. You just take it as it comes and hit a better shot the next hole."

It would be only a temporary detour from his dramatic destiny. From 90 yards out on the final hole, Fujikawa hit a precarious sand wedge to the small upper level of the 18th green. The ball released just enough — "It came out pretty much perfect," he said — to cozy up to the pin.

"I told myself hit the best shot you can, hit it solid and don't think about what the outcome is going to be," Fujikawa recalled. "Trust it. I did that and hit it pretty close."

Meyer's only regrets were the eighth hole, where he made his only bogey, and the 17th, which he could not birdie.

"It was a good tournament. Tadd brought a lot to it," said Meyer, 45. "A lot of people showed up, just intrigued and trying to see what he can do here. He performed as well as everybody thought he would. He had a little blip on No. 17 where he three-putted, but he came right back and redeemed himself with that little easy birdie. And that was a tough hole. I don't think there were too many birdies there today but he made it look easy.

"It looks like he plays within himself yet he's willing to take risks. That's a real good combination there."

While Meyer and Fujikawa were flirting with greatness at Pearl, nearly everyone else went in reverse. Azuma Yano's 66 got him a share of third with Yoshinobu Tsukada at 208, but the low score was a final-round aberration. Of the top 34 players, only eight shot in the 60s as Pearl's gusty winds and slippery slopes kept almost everyone from going low.

Takayama, 10-under after the first two days, closed with 79. Kaua'i's Casey Watabu, the 2006 U.S. Public Links champion, had 75. Yuki Ito, attempting to win a third straight low amateur title, shot 74 to drop to 45th overall and sixth among the amateurs. Ai Ogawa, an 11-year veteran of the JLPGA tour, and former PGA Tour player Keith Clearwater closed with 76s to share 63rd.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.