Everybody that Tadd Fujikawa didn't thank, high-five or shout out to on his final round of the Sony Open in Hawai'i yesterday — and a partial list would dwarf even the credits of the film "The Godfather" — he made a point of trying to take care of afterward.

"Thank you Mr. (Jim) Furyk," he told his playing partner. "Thanks Uncle Mark (Rolfing)," he told The Golf Channel commentator.

And, if that wasn't enough, his mother, Lori, left the Waialae Country Club course shouting, "thank you for coming," to passersby from the front seat of a golf cart.

Truth be told, it should have been the other way around. In spades.

For it was the kid who was barely taller than his golf bag that put the sparkle in this Sony Open with what wound up being a 20th-place, 5-under-par 275 — and so much, much more.

It was the just-glad-to-be-here guy with the bubbling passion for the game that packed the galleries to as overflowing as anybody could remember and made this past week the feel-good tale of the sports world.

If Fujikawa hadn't been an amateur, he would have pocketed $52,455 for his share of the 20th-place finish — the merest fraction of what he was worth to the tournament, its sponsors, charities and state this week.

No Tiger Woods? No Phil Mickelson or Adam Scott? No worry. A forgettable appearance by Michelle Wie? No problem. A disappearance by Vijay Singh, Stuart Appleby and Davis Love III? Didn't matter.

At least not when the 16-year-old sophomore from Moanalua High, who has a history paper due tomorrow, spent the week writing history of a golfing nature as the youngest player in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut. And, then, burnished it all with a run to what was, at one time, as high as fourth place on the leaderboard.

In a week in which some of the names in the business weren't to be found on the leaderboard, leave it to the only amateur in the 144-player field to supply the compelling drama. So much so that even the eventual winner, Paul Goydos at 14-under 266, paid tribute to Fujikawa for being the story of the tournament, and Furyk thanked him for the pleasure of being paired with him.

But the benefits of Fujikawa's precocious performance at Sony will reverberate for a while.

In a period in which Hawai'i golf has had so much and so many to celebrate — Dean Wilson, Kimberly Kim, Casey Watabu and Stephanie Kono to name but a few — Fujikawa put a bow around 50th state golf for the nation to see.

And, who knows, he might have even saved the state's U.S. Open sectional qualifying spot. At least you would hope so.

USGA executive director David Fay had said the group was "looking into" doing away with the spot that Fujikawa had won last year. When only 10 players competed for one spot and that went to a then-unknown 15- year-old, the youngest to get to the U.S. Open in 106 years, you could understand the USGA's questions about keeping a sectional qualifier here.

But not now. Not after Fujikawa bested 116 pros, including Jeff Sluman, who had been an advocate of eliminating the Hawai'i qualifier. So, you'd hope Fujikawa's showing here should resonate back in the USGA's Fair Hills, N.J., headquarters.

Its impact here surely will.

In the end, Fujikawa would say over and over, "This was the most fun I've had."

Thanks, Tadd, for making the feeling mutual.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.