Colin Byrne's Column

Honolulu is definitely a step back towards mainland America in comparison to Maui, but it is still removed from the mainland. Most of the caddies stayed about 10 minutes away from the course in the infamous Waikiki beach area. Waikiki is still a playground for Japanese tourists, and the whole area has got an Asian feel to it.

Despite a multitude of high-rise buildings, there are plenty of smaller, Asian-styled places down alley-ways, with sliding doors and steam oozing from gurgling vats of various types of noodles. It seems like there is a harmony of two very different cultures here.

The tournament is along way off the previous week at Kapalua. It is more like I remember the US Tour from the dark days of the early 1990s: zero facilities for the bag toter. In fact, they even went to the effort of putting up the "No Caddies" sign outside the locker-room.

As far as I could make out, our area was the tent beside the range where they dispensed the practice balls from. I'm assuming that this is just a minor glitch in what is a vastly improved lot for the American caddie; things had seemed to be getting better.

The lack of vehicles was a refreshing part of the Sony Open. Normally players are given a car for the week. However, in Honolulu they rely on a limited number of courtesy cars. Most caddies rent cars every week on this tour.

Last week, due to a lack of parking space both in Waikiki and the club, we got to the course on the free trolley service from town, in the courtesy cars or some rented scooters.

The pro-am was not much of a bargain again this week. Amateurs paid anything from $9,000 for the basic silver sponsorship package to $43,000 for a platinum sponsorship with four pro-am entries. Of course there were the usual "gifts" included and endless amounts of tickets involved, but it's still a huge amount to pay to play with people who quite frankly aren't all that excited about meeting four new friends. We all enjoy the huge prize fund on Sunday afternoon, I must add.

Having missed the cut in three previous Sony Opens and one Hawaiian Open, Kevin Hayashi, the neighbouring Hapuna head professional, was hoping to take the low-key approach to this year's event. No hope: the unfortunate club-pro got drawn to play with local prodigy Michelle Wie. Of the 143 other players he could have been paired with, Hayashi got the one in the headline group.

So much for sliding around unnoticed. The Wie throng were five deep around the first fairway on Friday afternoon, as the schoolgirl took to the tee to start her second round. By the end of the day Michelle had bettered Hayashi's score by five shots. She missed the cut by one shot, but gained the respect and admiration of the rest of the field. I heard nothing but positive comments about her achievement along the range on Saturday.

This was in stark contrast to many of the hostile quips about Annika Sorenstam when she played on the main tour last year. It doesn't take long for even defiant people to get used to change.

It's probably a bit early in the year to make predictions about the greatest sporting achievement of 2004. But, Michelle Wie's feat last week is as significant as Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile barrier. The course arguably lent itself to the type of low-running drives that Wie seemed to hit, enabling her to vastly reduce the 7,068 yard Waialae Country Club.

On a softer course, she may well struggle for length. Her demeanour and abundant talent will make up for any lack of distance.

Honolulu seems to be the caddie cross-roads at this time of year. With such an idyllic temperature and festive atmosphere, it's understandable.

The big meeting place for us bag toters last week was the Dawg House. Appropriately, this basement bar is owned by an American caddie. Some of the lads heading for the first Champions Tour event arrived early to acclimatise.

We are heading back to the mainland, Palm Springs, California, for a four-round pro-am and the final round amateur free. Apparently, as a caddie you will never be so grateful to be solely in the company of professionals as we will next Sunday.