It was a scene not to be forgotten in local golf in 2007:

Tadd Fujikawa raising his arms in triumph after sinking an eagle putt at the 18th hole in the Sony Open in Hawai'i as an ecstatic gallery went crazy, realizing that the 16-year-old high school sophomore became the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.

His playing partners that day, Boo Weekley and Steve Wheatcroft, were so caught up in the emotional moment, that they congratulated Fujikawa even before they putted out. Knowing that the little warrior was walking into golf history, they also hung back walking up the fairway so that the youngster could receive the welcoming applause alone.

At nearly the same moment, on the other nine, U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Paul Azinger eagled the other tournament par-5 at the Waialae Country Club in relative anonymity.

Told about Fujikawa's accomplishment, Azinger said, "It's not often you can say in January that the story of the year may already have been written. It might be. He could be the story of the year."

Azinger proved prescient. That story written in January held up all year.

Fujikawa's showing in the Sony Open clearly ranks as this year's top story in local golf.

Not only did Fujikawa overshadow Sony Open winner Paul Goydos and more heralded Hawai'i teen prodigy Michelle Wie, who was also in the field and failed to make the cut, the 5-foot-1 youngster took the golf world by storm, making the covers of both prominent national golf magazines.

A month later, Fujikawa became the youngest player ever to win the Hawai'i Pearl Open in a field that included pros from Japan. He then decided to turn pro in July, seeking new worlds to conquer.

While he is still looking to make his first cut as a professional, Fujikawa has had the opportunity to play on five different tours worldwide. "It's a good experience playing in different places. I'm learning a lot," said Fujikawa, who recently got his first corporate sponsor in Aloha Petroleum.

He hopes to put it to use in next month's Sony Open where his storied year began.

Just as Fujikawa clearly was the year's top story, Kimberly Kim had no challengers for No. 2.

In fact, "2" proved to be quit a significant number for the Big Island native who now resides in Arizona.

She was No. 2 in the final 2007 American Junior Golf Association rankings for junior girls, finished runner-up in the Westfield Junior PGA Championships in Ohio and the AJGA Polo Junior Classic in Florida, and won two AJGA titles in Arizona — the Heather Farr Classic and the Thunderbird International Junior — besides playing in the U.S. Women's Open for the second year in a row. It was one of three LPGA majors Kim played in this year.

"Kim2" also reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur in a bid to defend her title as the USGA event's youngest champion, shot a career-best and course-record 62 in the U.S. Girls Junior Championship qualifying and represented Hawai'i, along with Stephanie Kono, as members of the U.S. team in the Junior Solheim Cup in Sweden.

That brings us to Kono and Ayaka Kaneko, two high school seniors, who share third place as the best stories of the year in local golf.

The UCLA-bound Kono reached the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Girls and lost to eventual champion Mina Harigae, 1 up, 19 holes, in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links.

Kaneko couldn't play in the WAPL because she belongs to a private country club (Waialae), so she won the AJGA Bluegrass Championship, also in Kentucky, that week. But she got a measure of satisfaction by beating Harigae in the U.S. Junior Girls before losing in the final round to Kristen Park, who had advanced with a semifinal victory over Kono.

Not surprisingly, Kim, Kono and Kaneko were named to the AJGA All-America first team. It's quite a tribute to Hawai'i's junior golf program that of the 12 players named, three are from here.

The rest of the year's Top 10:

No. 5 — Whatever happened to Michelle Wie, who finished in only three of the LPGA events she played?

No. 6 — Kevin Hayashi for his record sixth Aloha Section PGA player-of-the-year honor. He also won the ASPGA stroke-play championship for the fourth time and took the lone spot in the sectional qualifying for next month's Sony Open.

No. 7 — Alex Ching, a Punahou School senior, for his victories in the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship at the PGA National in Florida and the Oahu Country Club Men's Invitational. He also won the amateur spot for the 2008 Sony Open and was a co-medalist in the Boys Junior America's Cup in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

No. 8 — Sean Maekawa, a Honoka'a High School graduate now attending the University of Oregon, who won the state high school boys' title and the Big Island Interscholastic Federation crown for the fourth consecutive year.

No. 9 — Dale Gammie, a senior on the University of Hawai'i women's golf team, who was named the Western Athletic Conference golfer of the year.

No. 10 — Kristina Merkle, Moanalua High School sophomore, who walked away with a 13-stroke victory in the Jennie K. Wilson Invitational. She also took the girls' 18 title in the Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association's Tournament of Champions.

Honorable mention: