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Tadd returns to Sony without pro success.
By SEAN MARTIN
Assistant EditorThe latest teenager to tee it up in the PGA Tour’s Sony Open isn’t female and hasn’t made history on a major stage. And when it’s over, he’ll start preparing to defend his state tennis title.
Alex Ching may not be a household name, but the 17-year-old from Honolulu will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Michelle Wie and Tadd Fujikawa when he tees off Thursday at Waialae Country Club.
He got into this year’s event by winning a one-spot qualifier Dec. 17 for the amateurs that played in the Governor’s Cup, a Ryder Cup-style competition between Hawaii’s best amateurs and club pros.
Ching lives about 10 minutes from Waialae and has attended the Sony since he was 7 years old, but had played the course only a handful of times before the qualifier. He’s been there almost every day since, playing several rounds with Fujikawa, who finished T-20 last year as a 16-year-old. (Fujikawa will play again this year after receiving a sponsor exemption).
“I’m just getting used to the course,” said Ching, who shot 69 in one practice round. “It’s so neat to see the tents and grandstands being put up.
“I can guarantee you I’m going to be nervous on the first tee. It’s a great opportunity, so I’m just going to try to relax and have fun with it.”
Ching has some experience at Waialae during Sony Open week. Last year, he teamed with Wie, a former Punahou High classmate, on the day before the tournament to win the pro-junior skills challenge over Tour players like Davis Love III, Jerry Kelly, and another Punahou product, Parker McLachlin.
Ching may not be well known because plays sparingly on the mainland. He played four junior tournaments there this year, winning his last two starts at the Optimist International Junior and Junior America’s Cup before returning home.
He’s won five of his last six stroke-play events. He claimed the Oahu Country Club Invitational in October by five shots with an 11-under 202 total (64-67-71), one shot off McLachlin’s tournament record. In the first week of December, he won the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association’s Tournament of Champions.
It’s almost time for Ching to put his clubs away and take out his tennis racquet. Punahou has won 23 of the past 24 state titles, and Ching teamed last year with Erik Shoji to win the state doubles title for the second time.
“I play golf the whole year,” Ching said, “so during (tennis season), I take a break and get my head off the game.”
They’re a multi-talented team. Shoji has been the starting libero the past two years for the U.S. boys’ national volleyball team and will play for Stanford. Ching has signed a letter of intent to play golf next fall for the University of San Diego.
He’ll undoubtedly be the first player in program history to enter school with PGA Tour experience. He had to win a three-player sudden-death playoff to earn his spot in the Sony, and in the process denied a little bit of history.
Ching’s par on the second extra hole eliminated 13-year-old Lorens Chan, who would’ve eclipsed Wie’s mark as the youngest player to play a Tour event.
Ching’s win gave USD head coach Tim Mickelson an excuse to make his first trip to the Islands. Mickelson first noticed Ching at the Callaway Junior World Championship when he saw a boy standing near the scoreboard surrounded by several girls.
“I asked, ‘Who’s this stud?’ ” Mickelson said. “I found out his name and started following his results. I wrote him a lot, and things worked out in the end.”
Playing a Tour event should make Ching more recognizable, even if he’s not as famous as those other Hawaiian teens.
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Sean Martin is a Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com.
Posted: 1/7/2008
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