At that time, in an era before graphite shafts and Pro-V balls, Waialae Country Club played pretty tough. Most importantly, which many people may not know, is that Waialae is located right next to one of the greatest hotels in the world, the Kahala Mandarin Oriental, which back then was known as the Kahala Hilton. For the pros who could afford it, it was a special place that helped make the tournament memorable.

It was a really big television event as well; in fact, looking through some old golf magazines from the 1970s, I discovered that the tournament received 15 and 16 share ratings. Today, those ratings only happen when Tiger Woods wins the Masters or British Open.

However, over the years. the allure of the Hawaiian Open wore off. In the late 80s, the Kapalua Invitational became a part of the PGA Tour, and became a more desirable tournament because the pros preferred the quietness of Maui over the hustle and bustle of Honolulu. In the 90s, with the glut of golf tournaments appearing on cable and satellite television, plus the Internet, television ratings fell for all tournaments, especially the Hawaiian Open. In a matter of 20 years, the Hawaiian Open went from being one of the events pros never missed to one that pros skipped.

I didn't attend any Hawaiian Opens between 1984 and 1995, so I was shocked at how old and tired the tournament had become when I returned in 1996. By then the the Kahala Hilton, had become the Kahala Mandarin Oriental, a run-of-the-mill expensive hotel. Even the pool and beach looked worn and old.

On top of that, Waialae had become a birdie fest, its par fives the weakest part of the course. Television was having a tough time selling the Hawaiian Open as a special event, with other, more glamorous, local tournament competing for air time.

The tournament reached rock-bottom around 1997, when the Kahala was sold to the Mandarin Oriental group and shut down for renovations, forcing all the players (and television folks like myself) to stay in Honolulu. Then, in 1998, John Huston tore Waialae apart, playing 72 holes in 28-under-par, breaking Mike Souchak's to-par record. To add insult to injury, tournament sponsor United Airlines bailed that year. So the tournament was in very poor shape.

But tournament organizers, along with the PGA Tour, worked hard to not only secure Sony as a new sponsor, but toughen Waialae and bring back the players. The decision to switch the Mercedes Championships to Maui the week before the Sony also helped to secure top players. Along with all of that, the Mandarin Oriental group purchased the Kahala and raised the hotel up to high standards, and is now again a very special place to stay.

In the last six years, the tournament has shone again. Scoring has become tougher, but fairer, since two of the par fives were converted into par fours. The tournament has regained the stature it experienced in the 70s, and players no longer want to miss out playing in the event.

This year, as Ernie Els defended his title and Michelle Wie surprised golf fans, the Sony Open in Hawaii didn't disappoint anyone -- except for me, who wished that I didn't have to watch the event on television but had been able to return to witness it all in person.

KEYS TO VICTORY

Ernie Els: His win this week didn't generate the same excitement as last year. That's because he played second fiddle to Michelle Wie, who played a practice round with Els on Tuesday. Els also didn't play as well this year.

Still, thanks to some great scrambling and good iron play, he was able to pull off the win. He was T5th in greens hit but most importantly, in the 19 greens he missed, he got it up and down on 17 of them. Els also played a great final round, despite a three-putt bogey on the 15th hole.

It's funny how Els quickly has dominated this tournament, when just a couple of years ago he never even thought of playing it. If it wasn't for getting into the Mercedes last year, Els wouldn't have made the trip. Now of course he is totally in love with the place, and will be making the trip for years to come.

It was very important for Els to win this week as he has a tough schedule ahead. With stops in Asia and Australia in the next three weeks, it's doubtful if Els will play in any more West Coast events. He has already said that he is seriously considering not playing in the Accenture Match Play Championship, so Bay Hill could be his next PGA Tour appearance. He admitted in his press conference Sunday that he wants to play more West Coast events, but can't this year because of his current commitments. However, look for that to change next year, with Els playing more on the PGA Tour than around the world.

Els' stats (with rank in parentheses):

Fairways hit: 25 of 56 (T69th)
Driving average: 301.9 (4th)
Greens hit: 53 of 72 (T5th)
Putts: 112 (28.00 a rd) (T15th)
Putting breakdown:
0 putt greens: 1
1 putt greens: 31
2 putt greens: 39
3 putt greens: 1
Eagles: 1	
Birdies: 19 (T3rd)
Scrambling: 17 of 19 (1st)

Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.

WHY THEY DIDN'T WIN

Harrison Frazar: Sometimes that first win comes easy, but not for him. When he does win -- and he will very soon -- he can honestly say that he worked his butt off for victory number one. In 160 starts, Frazar has now been runner-up three times, and finished in the top five a total of 11 times. For the third time in his career, Frazar headed to the final round with the lead, then went on to lose the tournament. To be fair, Frazar didn't give away this tournament. He did shoot a final-round 66, which would have won the tournament had Els not shot 65.

There was no real key to Frazar's loss, as he did everything right. He just didn't get the proper breaks from Els. Still, Frazar has a lot to look forward to this year, especially in his improved putting; this week, he was T2nd, with only 103 putts.

Examining his stats, it's easy to see that Frazar could be one of the best players on the PGA Tour today without a victory. But if he continues to play as he did last week, look for him to win sometime this year.

Frazar 's stats (with rank in parentheses):

Fairways hit: 37 of 56 (8th)
Driving average: 300.1 (6th)
Greens hit: 47 of 72 (T50th)
Putts: 103 (25.75 a rd) (2nd)
Putting breakdown:
0 putt greens: 2
1 putt greens: 38
2 putt greens: 31
3 putt greens: 1
Eagles: 1	
Birdies: 22 (T1st)
Scrambling: 20 of 25 (3rd)

Michelle Wie: She had a Cinderella week, it was only too bad that midnight had to strike for her on the 18th hole Friday, when she missed the cut by just one stroke. Nobody -- and I mean nobody -- really gave her much of a chance at making the cut this week. First of all, she is only 14 years old. According to the PGA Tour record book, which admittedly is incomplete, she was the youngest player on record.

But compare Wie's play to Annika Sorenstam's bid to make the cut at the MasterCard Colonial. There, Sorenstam shot rounds of 71-74 and although she impressed many with her opening round, she wasn't very impressive in her second round. Wie impressed us with her 72 on Thursday, but completely sideswiped us on Friday with a 68. It was an incredible round, not only making her the first women to have shot in the 60s on the PGA Tour, but probably the only player too young for a drivers license to shot in the 60s. Also, while Sorenstam beat 11 others in a field of 114, Wie beat 47 other players in a field of 144.

Here is an example of some of the players she tied: PGA Tour winners Chad Campbell, Gene Sauers, Kenny Perry, Jeff Maggert, Darren Clarke, Craig Perks, last year's U.S. Open champ Jim Furyk, British Open champion Ben Curtis and last week's Mercedes winner Stuart Appleby.

Wie beat PGA Tour winners John Cook, Tom Pernice, Jr., Scott Hoch, Spike McRoy, Steve Flesch, Chris Smith, Adam Scott, Notah Begay, Craig Stadler, Matt Kuchar, Jeff Sluman, John Morse, J.P. Hayes, Guy Boros, Tom Byrum and Dave Eichelberger.

That's a remarkable feat. Think about it: This 14-year-old either tied or beat out 25 past PGA Tour winners!

So how did Wie do it? According to ShotLink, she did it with great putting. In her second round, she only took 23 putts, sinking all 14 putts she saw from inside 10 feet, plus two from more than 50 feet. For the first two rounds, Wie ranked first of the field, with a total of 182 feet worth of putts made. She also drove well, averaging 271 yards for the week on the four official holes measured. While that may be long for a 14-year-old, that is way below par on the PGA Tour. On the unofficial holes, she hit 10 drives over 283 yards, with three of them traveling more than 300 yards.

Her weakness for the week, if you compare her performance with the other 143 players in the field, was her approach shots. Her average approach shots fell within 33 feet of the hole, ranking her last in the field. Of the 20 greens she hit in regulation, she only got two approaches inside 10 feet, while eight of them fell more than 40 feet away from the hole.

So Wie's score was a lot better than she played, although we can't discount the fact that she shot 72-68, to finish even par and just miss the cut by one. Still, it will be interesting to see how many more PGA Tour events she plays. The talk is that Sony Open officials are already offering Wie an exemption for next year. She also generated so much buzz that reportedly two PGA Tour events have also extended Wie invitations for this year. So this doesn't appear to be just a one-time outing, as it was with Sorenstam and Suzy Whaley, who competed at the GHO last year. Wie sees her future as playing on both the LPGA and PGA tours. Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to see her winning on the LPGA before she gets her driver's license.

So look for more Wie. Still, time will tell if she is to become the next Tiger Woods. I just hope she learned her lesson from last year, when she played too much and burned herself out.

So, it was a great accomplishment for her this week, but as the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last outing. For Wie, She needs to take the next big step and make the cut in a PGA tournament.

Wie 's stats:

Fairways hit: 19 of 28
Driving average: 271.0
Greens hit: 20 of 36
Putts: 54 (27.00 a rd)
Putting breakdown:
0 putt greens: 0
1 putt greens: 19
2 putt greens: 16
3 putt greens: 1
Eagles: 0	
Birdies: 7
Scrambling: 10 of 16