Golf is hardly a contact sport, but two of Hawaii’s best professionals have been knocked out by injuries recently.

Moanalua High graduate Tadd Fujikawa had his left hand in a cast for a month after straining a ligament in his thumb when it “popped backwards” during a swing on the driving range.

Castle High alum Dean Wilson had to withdraw from PGA Tour events the last three weeks after injuring his back.

In that time, Wilson has dropped six spots on the money list, to 149th, with a little more than $400,000. The top 125 after next week’s final stop on the Fall Series are exempt next year. Wilson, who turns 42 in December, has made nearly $9 million in a PGA Tour career that started in 2003. He won the 2006 International and has some status as past champion. He could also get a medical extension.

Fujikawa did not play a competitive event for nearly three months, and didn’t hit a ball for seven weeks — the longest period since “I started golfing, I think. I can’t even remember.”

His doctor put him in a cast “because he knew I would be hitting balls otherwise,” Fujikawa said from his home in Georgia. He and his mother, Lori, live near the Sea Island Golf Club, where he trains and this week’s McGladrey Classic is being played. Fujikawa successfully prequalified for McGladrey last week, shooting a 70. A 74 at this week’s Monday qualifying kept him out of the field.

The thumb still hurt when he first started hitting balls, but he played on the eGolf Tour a few weeks ago and just missed making the cut.

“It was good,” Fujikawa said. “I hadn’t been playing that good for a while. Sometimes these things happen for a reason. It was good for me to get away from the game and not feel bad about playing so bad.”

It is a strange statement from a 20-year-old whose breakout accomplishment — qualifying for the U.S. Open at age 15 — was followed by a pair of top-35 finishes at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The first came as a 16-year-old amateur in 2007. He turned pro that year.

Last year, Fujikawa won the eGolf Tour Championship by nine and was fourth on the money list. He didn’t make it out of the PGA Tour’s Q-School second stage, but won the Turtle Bay Resort Hawaii State Open, firing a second-round 65.

This year has been full of frustration and, for the first time in his golf life, the little guy had time on his hands.

“I got caught up on a lot of sleep and started working out a lot,” he said. “It was kinda good for me. I needed a break from golf. It gave me something else to do. I got into good shape, went to the golf course every day to chip and putt with my right hand. You can only do so much before it gets boring. We stayed home quite a bit, chilled and relaxed and let the hand rest.”

He still feels a tweak when he swings, but “when I don’t swing right it hurts a lot, so there’s more incentive to swing well.” His next start is in next week’s Q-School first stage at the Club at Irish Creek, in Kannapolis, Md. Ryan Perez, another Moanalua alum, will be his caddie.

“I don’t need to do anything crazy,” Fujikawa said. “Just hit solid shots and make a few putts. For me, because I haven’t been playing much competitive golf the last few months, I just need to go out and enjoy myself, not put too much pressure on my golf.”

Hilo’s Jarett Hamamoto also will be in a first-stage event Tuesday, at Lakeland Fla., while Tony Finau is in McKinney, Texas, and Nick Mason in Dayton, Nev. The following week, Eric Dugas is in Lantana, Texas; Kevin Warrick in St. Augustine, Fla.; Chan Kim and Hawaii Pearl Open champ John Ellis at Hollister, Calif.; Pierre-Henri Soero at Port St. Lucie, Fla.; and Sam Cyr at Beaumont, Calif.

There are six second-stage events in mid-November. The 90-hole final is Nov. 30 to Dec. 5. Everyone in the final earns status on the PGA or Nationwide tours.