Over the many years of writing instruction articles for PGA Magazine and other publications, my main focus has been to provide a tip or two to help readers play a little better, but to also stress that they remember to have fun. Having fun was a major theme of this past week's PGA TOUR event.
This week at the Sony Open, many familiar names were featured on the leaderboard --Paul Azinger, PGA Champion; Rich Beem, PGA Champion; Jim Furyk, U.S. Open Champion -- but there was another player who was someone I had never heard of, or thought of, in the golf world.
This guy was no. 1 all week in greens-in-regulation, he peeled off six birdies on Saturday, fifth in putts-made from ten-feet-and-in, and fourth in distance-to-the-pin with approach shots. Even more, he is the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut in a PGA Tour event. So who is this guy? Tournament winner Paul Goydos? Charles Howell III? Nope, his name is Tadd Fujikawa. That's right, Fujikawa. He is a 16-year-old local high school kid who lives in Hawaii, an amateur golfer who has to worry about homework and curfews as much as birdies and leaderboards. He is all of five-foot-one, and 140 pounds. Hardly an imposing figure, but after this week, a character we might always remember.
They say you can't measure the size of someone's heart; but you would need a wheel barrel to carry Tadd's heart, and he wears it proudly on his sleeve. One thing I paid particular attention to while watching Tadd play -- compared to the seasoned PGA Tour players -- was how Tadd played loose and relaxed, as if he had nothing to lose. In fact, that is exactly what he said in a television interview.
More than anything else, this is a lesson for all of us to learn from watching this week's TOUR event. Without question, we all -- including TOUR players -- put way to much pressure on ourselves when we play this wonderful game. I often ask golfers when they are entering the clubhouse where I work, "Hi welcome to the course, how are you?", and almost to a person they respond, "I don't know, I haven't played yet". My initial thought to myself is, "Wow, I don't care how you will play today but just, HOW ARE YA?"
Tadd went out there to the Sony Open this week with definite goals, but also realistic expectations about his play. And he had fun, loads of it. Everyone can learn from this. If you had a busy week at work, kids got sick or life got in the way, and you didn't have any time to practice or hit even a putt or two, how do you expect to shoot great scores on any kind of consistent basis?
Try not to base how you feel on the score you shot, but the fact that you are out on a beautiful golf course playing a game you love. The PGA Tour players are the best in the world but I noticed that even many of them would hit an errant shot -- as we all do -- and would express their displeasure with words or gestures or just an angry facial expression. Well I know its frustrating, but believe me, a smile and a better attitude can carry a long way towards helping you play better golf; just ask Tadd Fujikawa.
He isn't sure if he will ever play in another PGA event but he I can tell you, he sure made the best out of this one. Isn't that a great lesson for all of us? Apply that to your next round and this will be a valuable "Lesson Learned".
Ben Alexander, the 2004 Northern California section "PGA Teacher of the Year", is a PGA instructor based out of Poppy Hills Golf Club in Pebble Beach, California. He has written for a multitude of golf media including Golf Digest, PGA Magazine, and Golf Tips, hosted television and radio programs, and has his own series of instructional cds and dvds. He can be reached at (831) 277-9001 or teachgolfR@aol.com
