GOLF
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tadd Fujikawa is seven shots off the lead in the Albertson's Boise Open.
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Fujikawa’s 1-under 70 includes hole-in-one
BOISE, Idaho » If Tadd Fujikawa could eliminate the bad holes and capitalize on the sensational ones he has managed along the way, making his first cut as a professional wouldn't be so daunting.
For the second consecutive tournament, the Moanalua High junior managed a phenomenal shot, only to fritter it away with mistakes here and there throughout his round. Fujikawa became the youngest player at 16 years, 8 months, 11 days to score a hole-in-one on the Nationwide Tour during yesterday's opening round of the $675,000 Albertson's Boise Open.
The ace at the par-3, 133-yard 17th hole (his eighth hole after starting on the back nine) was the highlight of an otherwise ho-hum round for Fujikawa, who scored a rare double eagle on his final hole at the European PGA Tour's Omega European Masters last month. He still missed the cut and trailed the leader by 21 shots after 36 holes.
He's already seven shots off the pace of Jim McGovern, Brenden Pappas, Jeff Klauk and Nicholas Thomas, who tied for the first-round lead with 8-under 63s. That matches the tournament record for the lowest first-round score with six other players dating back to Rick Cramer's opening round in 1996.
Fujikawa carded a 1-under 70 and is tied for 78th in the 156-man field entering today's second 18 holes. Besides the ace, Fujikawa also had two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-3 fourth (his 13th) to offset the hole-in-one on his front nine.