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From the public links to pro tour By
Ferd Lewis
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| • | Sony Open in Hawai'i Check out our special report on the Sony Open in Hawai'i, inlcuding profiles, tournament information, and an interactive hole-by-hole description of the Waialae course. |
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Sony Open photo gallery |
| • | Wie corners market for Sony |
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When the Sony Open in Hawai'i begins this morning, there will be an assortment of players in the field who were heralded as young phenoms.
There will be plenty whose backgrounds stamped them early on as can't-miss prospects.
And, then, there is Dean Wilson, who could have been voted Most Unlikely to Succeed.
A walk-on to his college golf team whose coach used to tell him in moments of irritation, " 'You're a dime a dozen and I can get another one just like you tomorrow. For all I care, you can paddle your canoe right back to where you came from,' " Wilson recalls.
Considering the distance between Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and Kane'ohe, that would have been one heckuva paddle.
No longer a shot, perhaps, than Wilson, a self-described Pali municipal course regular of limited means being Hawai'i's senior member of the PGA Tour and only winner of a Mainland PGA tournament.
As Wilson tees off at 8 at Waialae Country Club in a return to the first so-called big-time course played in his career, both the memories and the depth of his accomplishments resonate.
"I remember one time we had a U.S. Amateur qualifying here and I entered it and, at the time, it was 50 bucks to play 36 holes," Wilson said of his teenage years. "I think I actually played pretty well knowing that (even) if I did qualify, I couldn't afford to go. But I wanted to play here and get that experience."
Now, like the larger-than-life cutout of him that was adjacent to the tent where he accommodated a long line of autograph seekers yesterday, Wilson is someone to look up to. Someone to celebrate and inspire.
Indeed, Wilson understands better than most that he no longer plays for just himself or those sponsors whose logos he now sports. He comprehends and relishes that he is an inspiration for a whole state, including impressionable young players such as he once was.
For it was 17 years ago, while huddled around a television in a college dormitory in snowy Provo, Utah, when Wilson came to a realization that he will carry with him today of what a role model can mean to a young golfer from Hawai'i.
It was while watching David Ishii of Kaua'i win the 1990 Hawaiian Open at Waialae that Wilson was encouraged to continue his heartfelt quest to someday make a living playing golf.
"When David won, I thought, 'Well, there, that proves that some guy from Hawai'i can win,' " Wilson said. "And, if David can win, maybe someday I can win.'"
Later it would also help that his college roommate, Mike Weir, became successful on the Tour, too. "It (was) like, he's doing great and I used to eat lunch with this guy in college every day. If he can win, I can win, too. It helps to have that rather than just sitting back and watching a Jack Nicklaus or a Davis Love III or whoever win because maybe those guys are not as real to me as a David or a Mike Weir."
As he has throughout this week, Wilson has embraced the opportunity to talk to and encourage young golfers. "I always think I want to play golf with these guys. I want them to come out and talk to me and realize that I'm just a normal guy; just a guy from Pali Golf Course and if some kid from Pali Golf Course can make it on Tour, then anybody can make it."
Wilson said, "You don't have to be from a country club. You don't have to have all the extra privileges. Not that my life was hard, but just a basic junior golfer that wanted to play on Tour and worked towards it and got there. So, hopefully, that's what those guys, when they look at me, they see and realize nothing is that extraordinary about my game. They can do what I can do."
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SONY OPEN TEE TIMES TODAY First Round First Tee 7:10 a.m.—Shigeki Maruyama, Billy Mayfair, Paul Stankowski. 7:20—Charles Howell III, Bob Estes, Steve Lowery. 7:30—Daniel Chopra, Michael Allen, Shane Bertsch. 7:40—J.B. Holmes, Heath Slocum, Jeff Sluman. 7:50—Ben Curtis, Fred Funk, Shaun Micheel. 8—Eric Axley, John Rollins, Carl Pettersson. 8:10—J.J. Henry, Aaron Baddeley, Peter Lonard. 8:20—Mark Hensby, Paul Azinger, Pat Perez. 8:30—Gavin Coles, Stephen Marino, Michelle Wie. 8:40—Craig Bowden, Anthony Kim, John Merrick. 8:50—Tripp Isenhour, Chris Tidland, Kevin Hayashi. 9—Kevin Stadler, Doug LaBelle II, Abe Mariano. 11:40—Jerry Kelly, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas. 11:50—John Daly, Briny Baird, Bo Van Pelt. Noon—John Huston, Matt Kuchar, Brett Quigley. 12:10—Will MacKenzie, Jason Bohn, Kenny Perry. 12:20—Trevor Immelman, Jeff Maggert, Bart Bryant. 12:30—Vijay Singh, Corey Pavin, Brett Wetterich. 12:40—Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby, Tim Petrovic. 12:50—Cameron Beckman, Richard S. Johnson, Ryuji Imada. 1—Bob Heintz, John Mallinger, Jim Rutledge. 1:10—Cliff Kresge, Rich Barcelo, Michael Putnam. 1:20—Bryce Molder, Craig Kanada, Hideto Tanihara. 1:30—Paul Sheehan, Craig Lile, Joe Daley. 10th Tee 7:10 a.m.—Tom Pernice Jr., Bubba Watson, Daisuke Maruyama. 7:20—Brian Gay, Mathias Gronberg, David Branshaw. 7:30—Ryan Palmer, Robert Allenby, Jesper Parnevik. 7:40—Joe Durant, D.J. Trahan, Luke Donald. 7:50—Davis Love III, Tim Herron, Tom Lehman. 8—Dean Wilson, Geoff Ogilvy, Arron Oberholser. 8:10—John Senden, Robert Gamez, Rich Beem. 8:20—Paul Goydos, Dicky Pride, Craig Barlow. 8:30—Robert Garrigus, Jason Dufner, Azuma Yano. 8:40—Brandt Snedeker, George McNeill, Ryan Armour. 8:50—Parker McLachlin, Andrew Buckle, David Chin. 9—Boo Weekley, Steve Wheatcroft, Tadd Fujikawa. 11:40—Chris Smith, Dudley Hart, Nathan Green. 11:50—Steve Flesch, J.P. Hayes, Harrison Frazar. Noon—Glen Day, Joe Ogilvie, Mathew Goggin. 12:10—Rod Pampling, Chad Campbell, Ted Purdy. 12:20—Stephen Ames, David Toms, Wes Short Jr. 12:30—Chris Couch, Rory Sabbatini, Stewart Cink. 12:40—K.J. Choi, Troy Matteson, Mark Calcavecchia. 12:50—Charlie Wi, Jarrod Lyle, Juvic Pagunsan. 1—Paul Gow, Tom Johnson, Brian Miller. 1:10—Darron Stiles, Jeff Quinney, Kaname Yokoo. 1:20—Scott Gutschewski, Chris Stroud, Yusaku Miyasato. 1:30—Ken Duke, Johnson Wagner, Scott Piercy. TOMORROW Second Round First Tee 7:10 a.m.—Chris Smith, Dudley Hart, Nathan Green. 7:20—Steve Flesch, J.P. Hayes, Harrison Frazar. 7:30—Glen Day, Joe Ogilvie, Mathew Goggin. 7:40—Rod Pampling, Chad Campbell, Ted Purdy. 7:50—Stephen Ames, David Toms, Wes Short Jr. 8—Chris Couch, Rory Sabbatini, Stewart Cink. 8:10—K.J. Choi, Troy Matteson, Mark Calcavecchia. 8:20—Charlie Wi, Jarrod Lyle, Juvic Pagunsan. 8:30—Paul Gow, Tom Johnson, Brian Miller. 8:40—Darron Stiles, Jeff Quinney, Kaname Yokoo. 8:50—Scott Gutschewski, Chris Stroud, Yusaku Miyasato. 9—Ken Duke, Johnson Wagner, Scott Piercy. 11:40—Tom Pernice Jr., Bubba Watson, Daisuke Maruyama. 11:50—Brian Gay, Mathias Gronberg, David Branshaw. Noon—Ryan Palmer, Robert Allenby, Jesper Parnevik. 12:10—Joe Durant, D.J. Trahan, Luke Donald. 12:20—Davis Love III, Tim Herron, Tom Lehman. 12:30—Dean Wilson, Geoff Ogilvy, Arron Oberholser. 12:40—John Senden, Robert Gamez, Rich Beem. 12:50—Paul Goydos, Dicky Pride, Craig Barlow. 1—Robert Garrigus, Jason Dufner, Azuma Yano. 1:10—Brandt Snedeker, George McNeill, Ryan Armour. 1:20—Parker McLachlin, Andrew Buckle, David Chin. 1:30—Boo Weekley, Steve Wheatcroft, Tadd Fujikawa. 10th Tee 7:10 a.m.—Jerry Kelly, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas. 7:20—John Daly, Briny Baird, Bo Van Pelt. 7:30—John Huston, Matt Kuchar, Brett Quigley. 7:40—Will MacKenzie, Jason Bohn, Kenny Perry. 7:50—Trevor Immelman, Jeff Maggert, Bart Bryant. 8—Vijay Singh, Corey Pavin, Brett Wetterich. 8:10—Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby, Tim Petrovic. 8:20—Cameron Beckman, Richard S. Johnson, Ryuji Imada. 8:30—Bob Heintz, John Mallinger, Jim Rutledge. 8:40—Cliff Kresge, Rich Barcelo, Michael Putnam. 8:50—Bryce Molder, Craig Kanada, Hideto Tanihara. 9—Paul Sheehan, Craig Lile, Joe Daley. 11:40—Shigeki Maruyama, Billy Mayfair, Paul Stankowski. 11:50—Charles Howell III, Bob Estes, Steve Lowery. Noon—Daniel Chopra, Michael Allen, Shane Bertsch. 12:10—J.B. Holmes, Heath Slocum, Jeff Sluman. 12:20—Ben Curtis, Fred Funk, Shaun Micheel. 12:30—Eric Axley, John Rollins, Carl Pettersson. 12:40—J.J. Henry, Aaron Baddeley, Peter Lonard. 12:50—Mark Hensby, Paul Azinger, Pat Perez. 1—Gavin Coles, Stephen Marino, Michelle Wie. 1:10—Craig Bowden, Anthony Kim, John Merrick. 1:20—Tripp Isenhour, Chris Tidland, Kevin Hayashi. 1:30—Kevin Stadler, Doug LaBelle II, Abe Mariano. Alternates 1, Brendon de Jonge. 2, Michael Boyd. 3, D.J. Brigman. 4, Jonathan Kaye. 5, Bob Mav. 6, Michael Bradley. 7, Steve Allan. 8, Jason Schultz. 9, Kyle Reifers. 10, Matt Hendrix.
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Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
