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The 19^th Hole

January 16, 2008

Time to Step Back

Just twelve months ago, Tadd Fujikawa was on top of the world.  After becoming the youngest player in 50 years to make a cut on the PGA Tour, the young Hawaiian finished in twentieth position at the Sony Open in Hawaii.  He instantly became the talk of the golfing world and speculation became rampant as to whether or not he would turn professional – even at the age of 16.

Going down the path of Ty Tryon, who made the cut at the Honda Classic at age 18, and fellow Hawaiian Michelle Wie, Fujikawa turned professional later on in 2007.  He would not have much problem finding a place to play.  Sponsors would clamor for the opportunity to have Tadd in their events.  And, in fact, they did – all over the world.  Fujikawa played an intense schedule and logged an amazing number of miles to play in eight professional events. 

Spending time in Asia, Europe, and North America, Fujikawa’s journey devolved into a quest to make his first professional cut.  The 5’1”, now 17 year old has shown flashes of brilliance.  He holed a double eagle in Europe at the Omega Masters.  Later, he scored a hole in one on the Nationwide Tour.  Despite the flashiness of those moments, there simply has not been enough consistency for him to earn a single paycheck as a professional.

This week, Fujikawa returned to the site where the entire golf world became familiar with him.  After a tough year of globetrotting, there was hope that a week at home may very well be what could get Fujikawa’s pro career jumpstarted.  The result was well short of that.  Tadd missed the cut (the competitive cut) by four shots.  Now he is 0 for 9 in getting a paycheck.

Obviously, it is time to step back at reassess the situation.  When he turned professional, I wrote in multiple places urging Fujikawa to reconsider his decision, or at the minimum, learn from the terrible mistakes that the Wie family had made in driving Michelle Wie to a near total meltdown.  It does not seem like he read what I wrote.

I understand the need to establish a pattern of success.  I can also understand that not every event is going to come knocking to provide an exemption so some semblance of travel is needed.  Still, the plan of going around the world just to make a cut is not working.  It creates a cycle of pressure that is only going to intensify until he actually makes a professional cut. 

Since he has no status on any tour, the end of the cycle does not appear to be on the near horizon.  Fujikawa will make his next start at the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.  It will be his second exemption of the seven his allotted by the PGA Tour.  Who is to say what will happen there, but there is not much evidence that the pattern of missed cuts will end.

It is disheartening to write a column like this again.  Last year, Michelle Wie was the subject of hundreds of these columns across the golf world.  Her image was tarnished, her game regressed, and now she is backpedaling to move forward.

The last thing I want to see is a good kid like Fujikawa wind up in a similar situation.  Certainly Tadd never had the hype that Wie has.  He is a short kid, finished well in only 1 PGA Tour event, and does not have a big PR machine behind him.  Still, the questions will linger in golf circles as to whether or not he made a mistake in abandoning his amateur status.  Time will tell if that decision was the right call or not, but he needs to take some time now and get away from the pressure of his job.  Get back into school, enjoy being a teenager, and do not read things like this.

It is stories like these that make me happy that I am a lousy prognosticator.  I hope this is a story in which I am clearly wrong.

Ryan Ballengee is the operator of The Golf News Network and host of The 19^th Hole Golf Show and LPGA on GNN.  Having graduated from the University of Maryland in 2004 and 2006, Ballengee brings the perspective of the younger golf fan to the microphone and his columns.  Over the nearly five years he has been broadcasting and writing, Ballengee has developed a reputation for a unique interviewing style that asks both the difficult and fun questions. He can be reached at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.