Maybe it is fate that in this 10th year of the Sony Open in Hawai'i, the Hawai‘i players are basically separated by a decade.

The local list begins with 17-year-old — as of yesterday — Tadd Fujikawa, the Little Big Man of last year's Sony. Punahou senior Alex Ching, also 17, is following in Fujikawa's precocious cleat steps as this year's amateur representative.

In a sign of Hawai'i's golf times, Ching was the oldest amateur left standing in a playoff for the prized spot, outlasting 13-year-old Lorens Chan and 16-year-old Taeksoo Kim. It is only the latest evidence of Ching's tenacity, a trait that has become increasingly evident as he has won major golf and tennis championships the past 18 months.

Parker McLachlin is a decade older than all those kids. The 1996 state high school champion will be making his fourth Sony start at Waialae Country Club, where he used to clean bathrooms to earn money and — even more valuable — practice time at a course that has hosted a PGA Tour event longer than nearly any other.

Castle graduate Dean Wilson has a decade on McLachlin. He is Hawai'i's most established PGA pro, after starting in the game as a teenager at the munis and working relentlessly to succeed at in college, then professionally in Asia and America.

Kevin Hayashi, seven years older than Wilson, has been Hawai'i's most successful golfer locally since winning the first of a record six Aloha Section PGA Player of the Year awards in 1998. But Hayashi, like Wilson, might be best known away from Hawai'i for the grace he showed under immense pressure one particular tournament week, earning an "Uncle Kevin" moniker that will probably follow him for life: A few months after Wilson helped Annika Sorenstam navigate the madness that followed her when she entered the 2003 Bank of America Colonial, Hayashi's unflagging support helped then-14-year-old Michelle Wie nearly make the cut in her first Sony.

Those weeks will never be forgotten and, for Fujikawa, Ching, McLachlin, Wilson and Hayashi, neither will this one.

KEVIN HAYASHI

Age: 45

High School: Waiakea '80

Turned Pro: 1987

Sony Open history: Eighth start, including 1996 United Airlines Hawaiian Open ... has never made cut, with best score of 144 (73-71) in 2006.

Bio: Mauna Kea teaching pro from Hilo ... first golfer to earn Aloha PGA Section Player of the Year honors six times ... won Hawai'i State Open from 1999 to 2001 ... four-time Aloha Section Stroke Play champion ... two-time Hawai'i Pearl Open champion ... coaches about 40 juniors at Mauna Kea Resort and Hilo Muni ... won 1986 JAL Rainbow Open as amateur ... played for University of Hawai'i-Hilo and Manoa ... part of Waiakea's first graduating class.

DEAN WILSON

Age: 38

High School: Castle '87

Turned Pro: 1992

Sony Open history: Seventh start ... best finish was T23 in first start (2002), when he opened with a 74 and played the final three rounds in 10-under ... missed the cut four times and was 76th in 2005.

Bio: World ranking is 112th after finishing 75th on the money list last year ($1,258,507) ... had four Top 10s and ranked among Top 50 in putting and scoring average ... 30th in first Masters appearance (2007) ... has made nearly $5.9 million in 155 PGA Tour starts ... Won the 2006 International in a playoff with Tom Lehman for his only PGA Tour victory, becoming first Hawai'i-born tour champion David Ishii at the 1990 Hawaiian Open ... finished career-high 22nd on the 2006 money list ... won six times on the Japan pro tour from 2000 to 2002, finishing second on the money list in 2001, when he broke into the top 70 in the world golf ranking ... 1992 BYU graduate ... medalist at 1991 WAC Championship and member of three WAC championship teams at BYU, where he played with Mike Weir ... now lives in Las Vegas ... mother Grace, who won Championship Flight (oldest flight) at this year's Hawai'i State Senior Women's, started Dean golfing at age 13 at Pali Golf Course ... captured his first Hawai'i State Open while home this Thanksgiving, donating winnings to O'ahu Junior Golf Association.

PARKER MCLACHLIN

Age: 28

High School: Punahou '97

Turned Pro: 2003

Sony Open history: Fourth start ... best finish was T59 in 2006 ... missed cut in 2000 and 2007.

Bio: Won more than $300,000 in Fall Series to move up to 137th on money list ($627,582) in his rookie year ... returned to PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament and tied for 11th to improve his status ... best finish was tie for fifth at Turning Stone Resort Championship ... made 13 of 28 cuts with six Top 25 finishes ... Earned first PGA Tour card when he tied for 16th at 2006 Q-School ... 29th on 2006 Nationwide Tour money list with $176,882 ... tied for second in Movistar Panama Championship and Knoxville Open ... best round in 2006 was 65 at Sony Open ... 2002 UCLA graduate earned all-Pac-10 honors twice ... won state high school championship in 1996 and was part of three state high school team championships in both golf and volleyball ... mother Beth was on the U.S. national volleyball team while father Chris played volleyball for Stanford and brother Spencer plays for Stanford ... lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., with wife Kristy.

ALEX CHING

Age: 17

High School: Punahou '08

Turned Pro: Still amateur

Sony Open history: First start

Bio: Only appearance at Sony came last year when Ching won the King Auto Group Pro-Junior Skills Challenge with Michelle Wie, who was a year ahead of him at Punahou ... Also won OCC Invitational and Optimist International Junior Championship in 2007 ... led amateurs to rare victory in Burns Cup, winning all three of his matches against the pros ... earned medalist honors at Junior America's Cup ... will play golf for University of San Diego despite winning two state tennis championships in doubles at Punahou ... plans to play high school golf for the first time as a senior.