Who Has More Upside, Fujikawa or Ishikawa?

Yes, this is going to be a post on men's golf.

I couldn't help but notice the American golfy media going nuts over Tadd Fujikawa's performance in the Sony Open last week. Monday qualifying with a 67 and shooting the best round of the tournament on Saturday, a 62, will do that to anyone. It kind of reminded me of the Japanese media's treatment of Ryo Ishikawa, except that Ishikawa's already won twice on the Japan Tour and made over 100 million yen in his rookie season last year.

As Dave Seanor recently pointed out, Fujikawa more than doubled his career earnings last week, despite his disappointing final round, but still has made less than $50K. Last May, Ann Miller noted how much more backing Ishikawa is getting. So it's clear that Ishikawa is well ahead of Fujikawa at this very early point in their careers. But where will they end up? Here are two yutube clips to help you decide!

Tadd:



Ryo:



[Update 1 (1:18 pm): Hmm, maybe Arnold Palmer agrees with me!]

[Update 2 (10:16 pm): Mostly Harmless talks, Augusta listens? Or coincidence?]

[Update 3 (1/24/09, 11:39 pm): Brent Kelley totals up the PGA events Ryo will be playing in the coming months over at About.com's golf blog.]

[Update 4 (1/29/09, 4:55 am): Ron Sirak weighs in with some cautionary tales for Ryo.]