ASSOCIATED PRESS
Punahou student Michelle Wie, 14, held up her ball after making birdie on the ninth green during the first round of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club on Thursday. Wie, who didn't make the cut, was the tournament's biggest draw.
As good as it gets
The Sony Open had Wie, but
Woods could have made it better
The only person missing from the scene was Tiger Woods.
And in the end, he's the only golfer the Sony Open in Hawaii needs to complete one of the more remarkable turnarounds on the PGA Tour.
Michelle Wie and Ernie Els treated Oahu golfers to a national stage performance that ended with the Big Easy rolling one in from 22 feet to win in triple overtime. It more than held its own against the National Football League's final four hype, even sidetracking the national media as it reviewed the Wie musical from near and far.
There were few critics -- as Shakespeare described as harsh discords and unpleasing sharps -- in the national press; rather a resounding melody of how Wie broke the gender barrier in Chuck Yeager-like fashion. They are only beginning to discover what island folks have been treated to for several years.
Even the normally robotic golfers of the PGA were as animated as Sony's new humanoid Qrio. Every roar led to an inquiry no matter how many greens away. Every groan had them searching for the nearest leader board. It was that electric.
During Wie's remarkable run on Friday, the gallery swelled as if Billy Graham were playing through. When Wie stood on the 12th tee, British Open champion Ben Curtis and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke played to a post-apocalyptic audience up the scenic 17th fairway. What's wrong with this picture?
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ernie Els celebrated Sunday after winning his second straight Sony Open trophy.
Saturday felt like the Waikiki Shell the day after the Beatles performed.
Those who were there got to see Wie playing golf analyst, something she could fall back on once her career, some eight years in the future, should come to an untimely end. As one national golf writer put it at the start of the third round, "I don't look forward to writing about Steve Allan."
Fortunately, he didn't have to write too much about Harrison Frazar, either. God love the Harrison Frazars of the world. Everyone likes to see a nice guy from Texas make a name for himself, just as long as it's on somebody else's fairway.
He gave a gallant performance, even could have won had he held a steadier hand a time or two, but his beating Els wasn't a fitting ending to these two magical weeks of golf in the island chain.
Thanks to the uneasy marriage in 1999 between the Mercedes Championships and the floundering Hawaiian (soon to be Sony) Open, local golf fans are treated to a delicious double dip. There are two years left on these current deals. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is so sure this is the place for the tour to begin, he came to town to start laying the foundation for even longer deals through 2010.
One thing that needs to be done is to avoid direct contact with the NFL playoffs. The Mercedes has to dance around the myriad conference playoff games to make sure there's no competition. The Sony has to do its best to keep away from the championship games, as it did this past weekend.
The Sony also needs to land Tiger Woods. For all that Wie and Els did for this tournament that included seven of the top 10 golfers in the world, Woods' repeated absence can't be ignored. When Els was asked the question whether he would have ever discovered Waialae Country Club as his own island retreat without the lure of the Mercedes, his answer was, "Probably not."
Having the winners-only event on Maui as your lead-in to the start of the full tour a week later on Oahu serves both tournaments quite well. But Woods has been to five of six Mercedes since 1999 and is 0-for-8 at Waialae since turning pro.
As a follow-up question, a reporter asked Els, "Would you advise Tiger to come?"
Els' reply was succinct, "No." (Laughter.) "Why should he come? He can stay in Florida." (Laughter.)
One can only imagine Woods watching the Golf Channel and seeing the glint in the eye of the world's No. 3-ranked player. When Els missed a simple 8-footer to win the Sony on the second playoff hole, reporters looked at each other and said, "Tiger wouldn't have missed that putt."
Small pause.
"Heck, Michelle wouldn't have missed that putt."
Els even made mention of the mental errors he committed down the stretch that gave Frazar new life, but no first PGA Tour victory. Against a more steely-eyed opponent, Els might have cashed a second-place check.
"That three-putt at 15, I knew it was a big mistake," Els said. "I didn't lose my composure. I just kept plugging away. There's still things I can improve on and those kind of things I can't do trying to win a major championship. So I've got to keep grinding away."
And that's what this 39-year-old tournament has done through the years.
There were many times along the way when it appeared this tournament was headed for the bone yard. But after last week's revival meetings, this tourney is only one player away from having a major championship-like feel.
