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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:22 p.m., Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Wie won't be in Sony Open, Fujikawa will try to qualify

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Paul Goydos once joked that he made PGA Tour history in 2007 by winning the Sony Open as the first player to beat a field that included a 5-foot boy (Tadd Fujikawa) and a 6-foot girl (Michelle Wie).

If Goydos wins at Waialae Country Club next month, it could be against a field that doesn't include either of Hawai'i's most famous golfing teens.

Tournament director Ray Stosik said Wie, now a 19-year-old student at Stanford, would not be playing the Sony Open for the second straight year. Wie was in Palm Desert, Calif., practicing and getting ready for her next school quarter. Wie played her hometown PGA Tour event four straight years, and twice shot 68 although she never made the cut.

Wie earned her LPGA Tour card at Q-school earlier this month. She has competed against men every year since 2003, and said after Q-school that she would do it again.

As for Fujikawa?

He qualified for the Sony Open in 2007 and tied for 20th, leading him to turn pro later that summer. He was given a sponsor's exemption this year, but missed the cut. Fujikawa won the Mid-Pacific Open in Hawai'i this year, and he made the cut at a Japan Golf Tour event, his first as a pro on a recognized tour.

Fujikawa has to go through a pre-qualifier first for non-tour members, Jan. 11 at Turtle Bay's Palmer Course. Top 50 advance to the qualifier the next day at Palmer Course, with PGA Tour members. The top four on the second day play in Sony, Feb. 15-18 at Wai'alae.