Tadd Fujikawa is getting an education far from Moanalua High School the last two weeks, and apparently learning quickly.

Na Menehune senior bolted into contention yesterday when he shot a 4-under-par 68 in the second round of the $3.5 million Puerto Rico Open at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande. At 6-under for the tournament, Fujikawa is four shots off the lead of Australians Jason Day and Matt Jones.

It is the third straight PGA Tour cut Fujikawa has made. The 18-year-old is playing his 11th tour event and has made four cuts. This year, Fujikawa finished tied for 32nd at the Sony Open in Hawai'i and tied for 52nd at last week's Honda Classic.

"I'm learning how to stay in the game," Fujikawa said yesterday. "At Sony, I put myself in good position (with a third-round 62) and kinda let it go the last day. Last week, I didn't have a very good third day. I want to try and keep myself in position and keep grinding and finish as high as I can, not let it go at the end. Learning is a long process ... hopefully I'll learn how to win."

Fujikawa played the front nine even, then blitzed the back with four birdies. He hit his approach shot to the par-3 11th to six feet, then converted a 10-foot par putt on the next hole. He pitched to 10 feet for birdie on the 15th and got another from 15 feet on the next hole. Another 10-footer got him to 68 on the final hole, where he "bombed" his drive, hit a hybrid pin-high right and chipped to 10 feet.

The 5-foot-1 Fujikawa stands eighth in driving distance this week, averaging 299 yards — 317 yesterday. He attributes his switch to a new Adams driver last week for some added distance. Fujikawa is also third in birdies (11), and 12th in putts (28.0). He needed just 25 putts yesterday, after struggling on the greens Thursday.

"I made a few more," Fujikawa said. "I worked on it a little last night and found something that I liked with my stroke. I'm working on it. It took a while to get things going in my round, but I found my stroke and got some momentum and rhythm going so it was good."

Fujikawa birdied three straight near the end to "kick-start" his first round. He closed quickly again yesterday after missing a short putt on No. 8 for the last of two bogeys, birdieing the next hole and focusing on eliminating bogeys on the back nine.

"I just wanted to keep it going and I did," Fujikawa said. "It ended up being a pretty good round."

He tees off at 5:20 a.m. Hawai'i time today with Corey Pavin, a former Hawaiian Open champion and the 1995 U.S. Open champ. Pavin, who turns 50 in November, is 32 years older than Fujikawa.

The Golf Channel will start its delayed broadcast of the third round at 12:30 p.m. Hawai'i time today and 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.