Tadd Fujikawa: Giving It His Best Shot
By Tadd Fujikawa (as told to Elisabeth Deffner)
Hawaii native Tadd Fujikawa, now 19, was 15 years old when he became the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the U.S. Open. (The ball he used in that game is now in the USGA museum.) That was in 2006; the following year, he played against amateur and professional golfers in the Hawaii Pearl Open and became the youngest ever to win that competition. In July 2007 he decided to go pro, and since then he’s broken even more records, becoming the youngest golfer to hit a hole in one on the Nationwide Tour and the youngest ever to win the Mid-Pacific Open.
I started playing golf about age 4, but I quit for a long time. I was about 8 when I started getting back into it. I did it not really seriously—kind of just for fun. I was about 12 when I started taking it more seriously. I put everything aside and just focused on golf. From that time, I knew what my dream was and what I wanted to accomplish.
 I wanted to play golf as a professional.
It got tough for me to keep my amateur status, anyway. A lot of people asked me if I would do commercials and offered me money—but the USGA, the United States Golf Association, which handles amateur status rules and stuff, is very strict. The first year I played the Sony Open I was still an amateur, and I had to turn down more than $50,000 in prize money to protect my amateur status. (But I’m not out there for the money; I just want to go out there and play golf! I try not to think about it too much. If I play well, the money’s going to come.)
I was also getting a lot of offers to play in tournaments, but I didn’t really have the money to travel to all the tournaments. It was really hard.
The opportunity was there, and everything was falling into place—so I told my family I wanted to go pro. For six months, my parents thought about whether they should let me turn pro or not. Luckily they allowed me to turn pro and at least try to accomplish my dreams.
The Reno Tahoe Open in 2007 was probably my first pro event. Playing as a pro—it’s a different kind of feeling, a different mindset. You’re a little bit more serious. When you go out there, you’re not just going out there to have fun. You try to take it a little bit more serious (which sometimes backfires!). I’m learning to go out there and let it happen—and not force anything.
I don’t try to think of myself as a professional; I just try to go out there and play golf and enjoy what I do. I think the more tournaments I play, the more I get out there, the more I learn about my game and who I am and how I can improve.
I’ve gotten to know most of the pros out there in all the tournaments. They’ve been really supportive. It makes me feel good, helps me play better, to know they’re backing me up and they’re behind me all the way. You’re competing against them, but at the same time they’re trying to help you improve. Hopefully it’ll stay that way.
Golf is a really humbling sport. One day you can be out there playing really well, and the next day it’s totally different. It teaches you a lot about life, the way things work: go out there and do the best you can, give it your best shot. Do that, and you can look yourself in the mirror at night and think, “I did the best that I can.” After that, you should be happy; you should be satisfied with yourself.
My family really supports me in what I do, and my mom definitely, definitely keeps me in line! I try to stay positive as much as I can and really try to give it my best shot. With good family and good friends and a really good base, you can go pretty far in life—especially if you make smart choices, such as staying away from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. It’s not good for your health; it’s not good for your mental state—so stay away from it. Have a dream, and go out there and do anything to accomplish it. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do it, because you can do anything you put your mind to.
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