What was technically part of his winter break ended up being a productive week of work for Tadd Fujikawa.

Since Fujikawa returned to Hawaii in early December, his time has been occupied by, among other things, the Hawaii State Open, his own charity golf tournament and the hubbub of the holidays, all while preparing for a possible berth in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

"It’s supposed to be vacation, but it’s too busy for vacation," Fujikawa said. "The first week and a half I was back I didn’t have a day off. It was kind of crazy."

He certainly welcomed a hectic last seven days, which began with a close call at the Monday qualifier and an exemption into the Sony Open on Tuesday. He then justified the last-minute spot with his best four-day run in five appearances in the event.

The lone Hawaii player left in the field closed a confidence-building stay at Waialae Country Club with a 3-under-par 67 in the final round.

Fujikawa’s best Sunday at Sony —he shot 2 over in 2007 and 3 over in 2009 — still had some "what if" moments. But a total of 7-under 273, good for a tie for 19th place, represented his best finish in the tournament and earned him $69,025.

"Overall I think this is the most consistent I’ve played and probably the best I’ve felt about my game," Fujikawa said between signing his scorecard and greeting a line of autograph seekers.

Fujikawa ended up a tantalizing two shots out of a tie for 10th (which paid out $137,500), and perhaps if not for a bogey-bogey finish on Saturday or if another couple of putts had dropped Sunday he might have given himself a chance to work for another check this week in the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, Calif.

As it is, he plans to return to Sea Island, Ga., toward the end of the month, with the eGolf Tour’s season set to open in February. He also plans to enter Monday qualifiers for Nationwide Tour events in hopes of stringing together strong performances and perhaps playing his way back to Waialae next year.

"Hopefully I don’t need an exemption, because that means I’d be on the tour," Fujikawa said.

He certainly held his own in the PGA Tour’s first full-field event of this season. He began Sunday tied for 41st and parred his first six holes, including a nifty save on No. 3 after he sliced his tee shot into the trees to the right.

As he had during the previous three rounds, Fujikawa heated up as the crowd following him swelled in the middle of his round.

An 18-foot downhill putt on the par-3 seventh hole began a run of three birdies in four holes.

The exception was No. 8, where he stuck his approach inside of 9 feet from the cup only to have his putt slide past the right edge.

"I didn’t hit a bad putt, but just not solid enough to hold the line," he said. "I really wanted to make that one."

He carded his lone bogey on No. 13 when his tee shot went into a fairway bunker and his second shot caught the lip on the way out. But he bounced back on the next hole with his fourth birdie of the day when his second shot stopped 13 feet from the hole and he drilled an uphill putt.

"I was pretty aggressive most of the day just because I was hitting the fairways," said Fujikawa, who struggled with his driver during Saturday’s round of 71.

A birdie putt on No. 17 came up just short and an errant second shot that went into the gallery to the left of the 18th green left him to settle for a closing par.

But he still walked off the green to an appreciative ovation and eager to get to work on the rest of the season.

"Coming back, it’s great to get some positive energy going back to Georgia," he said.