Tadd Fujikawa left Waialae Country Club yesterday measuring the same 5 feet 1 he had arrived at on Thursday.

But there would be no mistaking that the Moanalua High School senior, who gave up as much as a foot to some of his playing partners this week, definitely stood a lot taller in the eyes of many.

It wasn't only that he had made the 36-hole cut in the Sony Open in Hawai'i with a two-day even-par 140, but how he had gone about it.

He did it his way and, of course, the hard way. The two being pretty much inseparable from the time of his endangered, premature birth 18 years ago.

From two rounds of Sunday-Monday qualifying just to be able to walk through the players' gate to grinding it out in the worst, most challenging weather of the 11 Sonys with a one-under-par 69 yesterday, Fujikawa had earned his place in today's play-for-pay third round.

Never mind that he had made the cut here once before in 2007 at age 16 as the youngest to accomplish the PGA feat in 50 years. This was different. Back then he was the phenom, the "cute kid" as one pro had put it. A remarkable and precocious one, to be sure.

Cute might have still held sway with the tutu and school girls in the rain-soaked but steadfast galleries yesterday. But this time he earned a right to cash his first PGA paycheck of $9,936 to $972,000 with an admirable grittiness and tenacity that won the respect of the pros as well as the home folks.

After missing the cut with a sponsor's exemption last year, this time Fujikawa came not only fully expecting to make one but feeling like it was expected of him.

"Honestly, it feels like I'm supposed to do it (make the cut)," Fujikawa said afterward. "I think the exemptions are good and it is an easy way to get in for me. But the respect that I get from the other players and, I guess, the people, it is a little different when you Monday qualify and earn your way in."

Fujikawa played steady and workmanlike golf under trying circumstances as just one bogey and two birdies testify. He struggled with putts and let a couple drives get away from him but kept his game and demeanor together when it mattered, all the while the portable scoreboards at every turn reminding him that he had precious little room for error to make the projected cutline.

And when it was over, punctuated by a birdie on the final hole, Fujikawa said the accomplishment of being one of the 78 survivors was, "... an awesome feeling. Earning my way in and then making the cut is just even better."

After the applause of the gallery died down permitting his mother, Lori, to whisper, "You did it!" Tadd allowed himself a knowing and satisfied smile.

Then, he hitched up his pants, straightened up and walked off the course a little taller than he had arrived.

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