The Punahou students are both amateurs, but were given committee exemptions into the tournament if they played with the pros, because Mid-Pac already hosts the Jennie K. Wilson, a major women's amateur championship. Kono, a senior heading to UCLA, won the 2006 state high school girls championship, breaking the scoring record by four shots. Jang, a junior, will try to defend her 2007 title next month.

"I started off rough and ended pretty bad too ..." said Jang, who had two birdies yesterday. "But I think this helped me. It was more competing against myself. When I got out there in my division then I feel like I'm competing against others. What I learned here was to just keep that thought of competing against me."

Kono is hitting the ball "exactly where I want to hit it," but has been befuddled on the greens with 73 putts in two days. She also made the cut against the men in the Hawai'i Pearl Open two months ago and agrees with Jang's theory of trying only to beat herself.

"It was good for me to play Pearl and this tournament," Kono said. "Conditions are tougher here. I just got used to playing with the guys. You really can't pay attention to how far they're hitting it. You just have to hit your shot. This course isn't as long as Pearl so it's not that much of a disadvantage."

Meanwhile, Fujikawa, Ishii and possibly Darren Summers (68-139) and John Lynch (70-140) are chasing Ishii's tournament scoring record of 17-under 271, set in 1986 — and a championship. A year ago, Summers won with a score of 2-over par.

Fujikawa and Ishii are 35 years and golf worlds apart.

The "Taddster" turned pro last year at the tender age of 16, after rocking golf with a 20th-place finish at the Sony Open in Hawai'i. He was the youngest in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut and won the Hawai'i Pearl Open — the state's most lucrative local event — soon after.

Fujikawa, who now has three sponsors and exemptions into Japan and European tour events through the summer, had not made a cut since turning pro — until yesterday. He played the back nine first and made the turn at even-par, then "yelled at myself a few times, screamed a little." An approach shot from 20 yards to six inches at No. 1 set him free on the front, where he one-putted the first eight holes, six for birdie.

He believes his consistency has improved immensely the past few months, though he "doesn't hit as many great shots."

"I know what I want to do, where I want to be," Fujikawa said. "And I know what I have to do to get there. I'm going to try and do whatever I have to do."

Ishii worked his way up through Kaua'i junior golf, won the 1973 state high school individual championship and an NCAA team title at Houston, then became the most successful golfer on the Japan tour not from Japan. He is still among the top 10 career money leaders. Ishii captured the 1990 Hawaiian Open to highlight a still-thriving career that got him inducted into the Hawai'i Golf Hall of Fame as soon as he was eligible.

That was right after he won here two years ago. Ishii also made his run on the front yesterday, following a first-hole bogey with three straight birdies.

One of Ishii's 14 wins in Japan came at the 1986 Chunichi Crowns. Fujikawa leaves Tuesday to play that event. Last year, as an amateur, he missed the cut by two. Fujikawa hopes to continue his consistency and success here, then build on it.

NOTES

Keola Gerell is low amateur at 72—143, one shot ahead of David Ishii's nephew, TJ Kua (73). Kua, a Kamehameha senior, shot 65 in the first round of the ILH championship Monday, playing the front nine in 28. He trails Alex Ching by one going into Monday's final round at Waialae.

Ishii captured his third straight Mid-Pacific Open Senior championship yesterday, with Leland Lindsay (73-144) second in the 36-hole tournament within a tournament.