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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, January 4, 2007

Hawai'i teens get shot at pro tours' tourneys

Advertiser Staff

Kids rocked Hawai'i golf yet again yesterday with news of three precocious golfers — Michelle Wie, Kimberly Kim and Ayaka Kaneko — receiving invitations to professional events.

Wie, 17, will be pro to one of her peers at next week's inaugural King Auto Group Pro-Junior Skills Challenge. The exhibition will be Tuesday of Sony Open in Hawai'i week. Wie will play the Sony a fourth consecutive year on an exemption.

The Pro-Junior features five pros teamed with five of Hawai'i's best young amateurs at Waialae Country Club. It begins at 3 p.m. Wie, a Punahou senior, was announced as one of the pros yesterday, along with Davis Love III. Kane'ohe's Dean Wilson, Ho-nolulu's Parker McLachlin and 2002 Sony Open champion Jerry Kelly were announced earlier.

The amateurs are Alex Ching, Chan Kim, Sean Maekawa, Elyse Okada and Miki Ueoka.

The Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association will receive $10,000 from Friends of Hawai'i Charities through King Auto Group, which resurrected the Pro-Junior after a one-year absence. The new format will have all 10 players on the 18th hole, competing from the bunker, with short irons, on a long putt and faced with a difficult chip.

Each player has three opportunities in the four areas. The team with the shot closest to the hole gets 10 points with others collecting points in descending order. The team with the highest cumulative total wins, with the pro getting $3,000.

Kim, a former Hilo resident, has been given an exemption to play in the LPGA's Fields Open in Hawai'i, Feb. 22 to 24 at Ko Olina Golf Club. Kim was earlier given an exemption to play in the LPGA's SBS Open at Turtle Bay, the previous week.

Kim moved to Arizona last year and, at 14 years, 11 months, became the youngest to win the U.S. Women's Amateur. She also was runner-up in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, was the youngest to make the cut in the U.S. Women's Open and represented the U.S. in the Women's World Amateur Team Championship in South Africa.

Kaneko, a Sacred Hearts junior who will try to qualify for the Sony Open in Hawai'i Monday, has been given a sponsor's exemption into qualifying for the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. The LPGA's season-opening event is Feb. 15 to 17 at the Palmer Course. Qualifying is Feb. 12.

Kaneko turns 16 later this month. Born in Japan, she moved to Hawai'i with her parents five years ago. She played in the LPGA's ShopRite Classic last year, missing the cut by one. She also won a special amateur qualifier to get into the LPGA's Takefuji Classic.

Kaneko works with David Ishii, who won the 1990 Hawaiian Open. She reached the quarterfinals of last year's U.S. Women's Amateur and, like Kim, was a Rolex All-American. Both qualified for the 2006 U.S. Women's Open, where Kim was the youngest to make the cut.