14-Year-Old Playing in Sony Open

Lorens Chan won a qualifier several weeks back and on Thursday he'll tee off in the PGA Tour Sony Open. What's notable about that? Chan is not yet 15 years old.

It's true that another 14-year-old - Michelle Wie - has played in the Sony Open before. In fact, Wie is the youngest golfer ever to play in a PGA Tour event.

But Wie got into the tournament on a sponsor exemption. Chan played his way in.

Chan, a freshman at Iolani School in Honolulu, was one of 12 local amateurs chosen to compete in an 18-hole qualifying tournament on Dec. 29. The 12 were chosen for the qualifier on the basis of points standings in the Governor's Cup, a yearlong points race of local amateur tournaments.

Chan then shot 5-under 67 at Waialae, got into a playoff against two others, and won on the first extra hole. At age 14 years, 7 months, Chan had earned a spot in a PGA Tour event.

What might we expect from Chan this week? Probably not much. He is, after all, a freshman in high school, and he looks like a freshman - 5-foot-7, 130-something pounds, babyfaced. The 67 he posted in the qualifier was his career low.

But Chan is the second-ranked junior golfer in the U.S. in his high school class. And earlier in 2008, he was low amateur - and finished fourth overall - at the Hawaii State Open.

He's clearly a great junior golfer, and Waialae is his home course. As Fujikawa showed two years, you never know. The important thing for Chan is to learn as much as he can, and have as much fun as he can. If he happens to throw another 67 on the scoreboard, all the better.