Moanalua High School senior Tadd Fujikawa shot a 2-over-par 73 yesterday in the first round of the Omega European Masters at Crans-Sur-Sierre Golf Club in Crans Montana, Switzerland.

The European Tour event is played at an altitude of 4,500 feet in the Alps.

The 17-year-old from Hawai'i had four birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey in his round and is tied for 106th. He was 5-over after the double-bogey on the 11th, but had three birdies in his final seven holes. His caddie this week is his mother, Lori.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who is 19, leads the tournament after shooting an 8-under-par 63.

Fujikawa turned pro in July of 2007 after finishing 20th at the Sony Open in Hawai'i — becoming the second-youngest in history to make a PGA Tour cut — and winning the Hawai'i Pearl Open. He has played 16 tour events since, six on the PGA Tour, and made two cuts, both in Japan. He also won this year's Mid-Pacific Open.

Fujikawa also played in the KLM Open, another European event, in late August and failed to make the cut.

PGA TOUR

RAIN PUSHES BACK BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

When the fans came out to watch Tiger Woods, there was no tournament. Arnold Palmer once played in a tournament, but fans couldn't get to the golf course.

St. Louis added yet another chapter to its dreary decade of golf history when the first round of the BMW Championship was washed out by storms that dumped 3 inches of rain on Bellerive Country Club.

"We do know how to deal with adversity," said Jerry Ritter, the general chairman of the BMW Championship and a Bellerive member who has seen his share of it.

Dozens of players were at Bellerive getting ready for the American Express Championship the morning of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was the first big event in St. Louis since the 1992 PGA Championship. Woods was playing in St. Louis for the first time in his career, but he only got in a practice round before the event was canceled.

Three years later, the U.S. Senior Open came to town, and rain washed out the second round Friday. At least they got in the tournament, with Peter Jacobsen going 36 holes on a creaky hip Sunday to win.

Palmer made his only appearance in the Boone Valley Classic on the Senior PGA Tour in 2000, and the King can draw a big gallery anywhere. But storms that week caused such a problem with traffic that fans couldn't get to Boone Valley.

And it's not like the BMW Championship, the third stop in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, is a complete wash. The first round was postponed until today, with 36 holes tomorrow to get back on schedule.

LPGA

LAWMAKER QUESTIONS NEW LANGUAGE POLICY

A California state senator said yesterday that he's seeking a legal opinion to determine whether the LPGA Tour's language requirement for players violates state or federal law.

Sen. Leland Yee is upset about a policy that requires players to speak effective English starting in 2009. The rule is effective immediately for new players, while veteran members will be suspended if they can't pass an oral English test.

The LPGA Tour expects to have the policy written by the end of the year.

Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco, said the rule might violate California laws covering workplace discrimination or disabilities. He expects an answer from the state Legislative Counsel's Office within a few weeks, before the tour returns to California.