Fujikawa, Sawada take aim at Canada

Both are 26 and were brought up a few miles from each other on Oahu. Both played in this year’s Sony Open in Hawaii.

There the similarities ended for Tadd Fujikawa and Jared Sawada, until today, when both tee off in the Freedom 55 Financial Open in Vancouver. It is the start of Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada’s fifth season.

It is also the first time Fujikawa and Sawada have had any kind of status on a golf tour. They need a fast start, and a repeat of their remarkable pasts in Hawaii, to hang on.

Sawada tied for 12th and Fujikawa 14th at Canadian Tour Q-schools, earning starts in the first four tournaments. To retain their status they have to play well before the tour’s “re-shuffle.”

The goal is to get to the Web.com Tour, where purses multiply from $175,000 to $600,000, and then on to the PGA Tour, where it’s more like $6 million. This year’s U.S. Open has a $12 million purse.

But back to the serenity of Canada, one of six tours the PGA Tour oversees, along with Web.com, China, Latinoamerica, Champions (seniors) and its namesake.

“Honestly it’s awesome,” Fujikawa says of Mackenzie. “It’s run basically like a Web.com event with maybe a few less people in the crowd.

“Last year every course the greens were great and conditions were good. It’s a good tour. The money is not ideal obviously, but as far as players and people who run the events, it’s really, really good.”

He played the first eight events last year with conditional status, making one cut. He was 171st on the Order of Merit, 37 spots behind ‘Iolani alum David Fink, with $673.

Fujikawa turned down nearly 10 times that much at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii, when his 5-foot-1, fist-pumping frame burst out of the Kahala pack to tie for 20th at age 16. He was the second-youngest ever to make the cut at a PGA Tour event, less than a year after he was the youngest to qualify for the U.S. Open in its 106 years.

Fujikawa turned pro shortly after Sony and has been searching for tour status since. His highlights have often come at home, most notably at Sony, where he was in contention on the weekend in 2009 and 2012, collecting $130,000 with Top-32 finishes.

Sawada, 7 inches taller than Fujikawa but also 135 pounds, turned pro shortly after missing the cut at the 2014 Sony. He won practically every major Hawaii amateur event the year before, including the 105th Manoa Cup. That came after he got his best college finish for the University of Hawaii at the WAC championship — his final event.

“That meant everything to me,” Sawada said four years ago. “That fourth WAC championship meant everything. If I didn’t get to go on that road trip I might have quit golf.”

Instead, that memorable year catapulted him to tournaments and Monday qualifiers mostly here and on the mainland, where he has played mini-tours and in many State Opens. This year, he qualified for Sony and was the only Hawaii player to make the cut, earning $12,000 and a much-needed shot of confidence.

After he secured his spot on the Mackenzie Tour, Sawada won the Mid-Pacific Open. He has been practicing between a part-time sales job and giving golf lessons.

His goal is PGA Tour status by next year, and to enjoy the ride.

“I want to have fun and enjoy everything golf has to offer,” Sawada says. “Even in tournaments we can still enjoy the day and have fun with our friends.”

Fujikawa is now based in Texas, where he stays with junior golf buddy Ayumi Hori between Monday qualifiers and mini-tour events. His mother Lori will travel with him in Canada, and to Tacoma, Wash., for Monday’s U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier.

“Canada is just more convenient than other tours,” Fujikawa says. “It’s not as difficult or as far to travel. Canada is basically like the U.S. The only difference to me is it’s a little safer than the States. It seems like people are a little more trustworthy.

“It’s a good place to play. The weather is good. The season is pretty short, but the only other places to play are China, Latin America or Asia. You look at those tours and travel is so much harder.”

‘Iolani alum Lorens Chan, who turned pro last year, earned conditional status on the Mackenzie Tour with a 24th-place finish at Q-School. He did not get into this week’s field. Chan graduated from UCLA with a 3.94 GPA and earned Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar status his final two seasons. He was also a GolfWeek honorable mention All-American.

The tour has 11 stops between now and September. The leading money winner is fully exempt on Web.com next season and Nos. 2-5 earn conditional status. The Top 10 earn an exemption into the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament, and 11-20 get an exemption into the second stage.

There are 10 Mackenzie alumni competing on the PGA Tour this season, including Tony Finau, and 66 with Web.com Tour status.