GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Ty Tryon, who at 18 is the youngest player on the PGA Tour, teed off at Waialae Country Club yesterday.

The youngest
of young guns

After having earned his
Tour card while in high school,
Ty Tryon is living life on the links

---

By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

The trees stood between Ty Tryon and the 13th green at Waialae Country Club yesterday.

Starting times At Waialae Country Club First round Tomorrow A--Denotes amateur Players with Hawaii ties in bold face First tee 7:20 a.m.--David Peoples, Robert Gamez, John Senden. 7:29--J.L. Lewis, Larry Mize, Marco Dawson. 7:38--Craig Stadler, Craig Barlow, Tim Petrovic. 7:47--John Rollins, Robert Allenby, John Huston. 7:56--Ernie Els, K.J. Choi, Retief Goosen. 8:05--Spike McRoy, Chris Smith, Tom Pernice, Jr. 8:14--Charles Howell III, Craig Parry, Jose Maria Olazabal. 8:23--Stewart Cink, Carl Paulson, Chad Campbell. 8:32--Glen Day, Jeff Maggert, Shaun Micheel. 8:41--Cliff Kresge, Gavin Coles, Yasuharu Imano. 8:50--Jason Gore, Ty Tryon, Taichiro Kiyota. 8:59--Jason Buha, Aaron Baddeley, Arron Oberholser. 11:45--Rory Sabbatini, Tim Herron, Greg Chalmers. 11:54--Brent Geiberger, Peter Lonard, Thomas Lever. 12:03 p.m.--Tom Byrum, Harrison Frazar, Ben Crane. 12:12--Vijay Singh, Dan Forsman, Ian Leggatt. 12:21--Gene Sauers, Rich Beem, Kenny Perry. 12:30--Sergio Garcia, Frank Lickliter II, Fred Funk. 12:39--Jonathan Byrd, Jeff Sluman, Notah Begay III. 12:48--Jim Carter, Geoff Ogilvy, Pat Perez. 12:57--James H. McLean, Darron Stiles, Yusaku Miyazato. 1:06--John E. Morgan, Akio Sadakata, Katsunori Kuwabara. 1:15--Andy Miller, Kenichi Kuboya, Douglas Bohn. 1:24--Vance Veazey, Joel Kribel, Chris M. Anderson. Tenth tee 7:20 a.m.--Rod Pampling, Pat Bates, Bart Bryant. 7:29--Dudley Hart, Per-Ulrik Johansson, John Maginnes. 7:38--Olin Browne, Paul Goydos, Dicky Pride. 7:47--Craig Perks, John Cook, Joe Durant. 7:56--Bob Burns, Jesper Parnevik, Brad Faxon. 8:05--Loren Roberts, Shigeki Maruyama, Joel Edwards. 8:14--Cameron Beckman, Paul Azinger, Corey Pavin. 8:23--Carlos Franco, Dave Stockton Jr., Hidemichi Tanaka. 8:32--Todd Fischer, Tag Ridings, Regan Lee. 8:41--Anthony Painter, Richard S. Johnson, Joe Phengsavath (A). 8:50--Dean Wilson, Patrick Sheehan, Tomohiro Kondo. 8:59--Todd Barranger, Scott Laycock, Kirk Nelson. 11:45--Stuart Appleby, Jay Don Blake, Brian Gay. 11:54--Andrew Magee, Jonathan Kaye, Doug Barron. 12:03 p.m.--Robin Freeman, David Berganio Jr., Heath Slocum. 12:12--Chris Riley, Tom Lehman, Fred Couples. 12:21--Len Mattiace, Jim Furyk, Chris DiMarco. 12:30--Matt Kuchar, Steve Lowery, Steve Jones. 12:39--Luke Donald, Jerry Kelly, David Gossett. 12:48--Esteban Toledo, Briny Baird, J.J. Henry. 12:57--Kaname Yokoo, Aaron Barber, Ron Castillo. 1:06--Jeff Brehaut, Brian Bateman, Royden Heirakuji (A). 1:15--Howard Twitty, Brenden Pappas, Mark Wilson. 1:24--Alex Cejka, Steven Alker, Patrick Moore.

So he did what most 18-year-olds would: He tried to hit a shot right through them. The result was what few golfers of any age could hope to achieve -- his ball somehow avoided hitting a limb and nearly made the green 270 yards away.

"It was pretty much impossible, but I saw that little opening," Tryon said.

Some would say the same about his becoming a pro golfer at such a young age.

Tryon and teammate Kurt Nino finished last among six teams at First Hawaiian Bank's Pro Junior Golf Challenge. But the high school senior from Orlando, Fla., showed why he is a card-carrying member of the Tour.

"He's got a great swing, hits it real strong," said Tom Lehman, who partnered with Travis Toyama to win the six-hole alternating-shot event with 1-under par. "I expect big things out of him. He's very poised and very talented."

He's also very popular, even though the Sony Open, which begins tomorrow, is just his seventh Tour event; Tryon was the one most wanted by autograph hounds yesterday.

"It's exciting to see how he plays as a golfer because he's young like us. And it shows how much we still need to improve. He was really nice," said Toyama, a 16-year-old University High student and reigning state amateur match play champ.

Toyama said he finds Tryon inspirational. But he wouldn't jump to the Tour while in high school if he could, as Tryon did.

"I want to get my game solid first," he said. "There are a lot of areas where I can improve."

Tryon was the center of controversy last year when he earned his Tour card at the 2001 qualifying tournament while still in high school -- and said he planned to use it as soon as possible. Some said he should be worrying about things like trigonometry tests and who to take to the prom rather than making the cut every week.

"I just focus on my golf game and block it out. It can get overwhelming," he said.

Tryon missed five months of last season with what was later diagnosed as mononucleosis. Lehman said it might have been a blessing.

"I think being sick and having to take such a long time off was probably good for him," said Lehman, the 2001 Sony Open runner-up and 15-year Tour veteran. "The media circus has kind of died down. It might have been hard for him to play the whole season."

Yesterday was as much about irony as irons for Tryon, considering he is far closer in age to the local junior golfers than he is to that of his fellow pros. Paul Azinger joked that the event was comprised of five pros and seven juniors.

Tryon, though, says he has been accepted. Some players treat him at times like a little brother, nephew or son, but all treat him with respect, he said.

"I've made a lot of friends," Tryon said. "Just this morning I played with John Cook and Freddie Couples. I'm having a lot of fun."

Tryon has come a long way from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla., where he was the teammate of Cook's son. He said he needs to finish two classes before he gets his high school diploma, a task he expects to complete within a few months.

Michelle Wie and Stephanie Kono aren't even in high school yet. But the 13-year-old Punahou students -- as well as Lehua Wise (17), Christopher Souza (17), Kurt Nino (15) and Toyama -- had pros Lehman, Azinger, David Gossett, Jerry Kelly, Vijay Singh and Tryon shaking their heads in amazement at their talent while at the same time trying to get the youngsters to relax and enjoy the game.

Wie, who played in last year's event, was visibly more relaxed than Monday when she unsuccessfully tried to qualify for the Sony Open. Her hitting off the front tees became a joke yesterday; it's like giving Marion Jones a head start in a race.

If the youth of players like Tryon and Wie wasn't enough, the huge gallery laced with hundreds of schoolchildren was another reminder that golf is becoming a younger game all the time.

That's fine with veterans like Lehman, who turned over his winner's check of $5,000 to the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association. Singh and Azinger did the same with their earnings of $1,500 each. Add it to First Hawaiian Bank's donation, and the HSJGA made $20,000.

Lehman said this is the only event of it's kind, but it shouldn't be.

"I wish they'd do it (at other Tour stops) because it's great to interact with the juniors as partners. Dealing with them as individuals, hanging out for six holes and getting to know each other a little bit is great for the kids and us," he said. "They ought to do this everywhere."

Sony Open