On days when the practice routine became numbing, Tadd Fujikawa sometimes slipped into fantasy, imagining himself playing for the championship on the final day of the Sony Open in Hawai'i.

In scenes that must have recalled classic "Caddyshack" fiction, Fujikawa pictured himself chasing victory in his hometown tournament backed by a legion of exultant fans.

Well, fantasy becomes an HD reality that even the tournament sponsor's entertainment division couldn't deliver when the Moanalua High senior steps on the Waialae Country Club course today in contention for the title of the first full-field PGA event of the year.

No need to pinch Fujikawa, though. The thunderous roars from five- and six-deep galleries that pushed him to a career-best 8-under 62 yesterday and overall 202, two strokes behind leader Zach Johnson, assured this was no illusion. No fluke, either, as nine birdies — three in a row at one point — artfully attested.

Though that didn't stop throngs of new arrivals at the tournament gates yesterday from doing double — and triple — takes at a leaderboard that, for a couple hours, showed the cherubic 18-year-old leading names he might have beseeched for autographs not too long ago.

As much as a smooth combination of a booming driver and exacting putter put him there, so, too, did a refreshing why-the-heck-not-me attitude about pursuing the title and his reach-for-the-sky dreams.

Indeed, if you can't take aim at the moon when you are a precocious teenager, then when can you?

A day after making the 36-hole cut by one stroke, Fujikawa tucked any just-glad-to-be-here caution deep into his bag and came out aggressively firing away at his first PGA paycheck. Clearly, Fujikawa wasn't about to settle for the minimum $9,936, either. Not when there is a $972,000 first-place check up for grabs and he had a few thousand fans rooting him on. He walked away from about a $53,000 payday at the 2007 Sony Open when, as an amateur, he finished tied for 20th.

Yesterday, he was walking away from nothing, especially the challenge of playing with 77 of the best players on the planet in his backyard.

"You know, I think that (Friday) and the day before was (about) just kind of playing it safe and just making the cut," Fujikawa said. "And, then, today I went out there and attacked. That's what you need to do and, I guess, that's why it is called 'moving' day."

And Fujikawa began making his move from the first tee, opening with three consecutive birdies and a voracious appetite for more. One that was unhindered by his only bogey.

Nor did he take his foot off the gas and play safe when he reached leaderboard high altitude. "He was feeling it and had to ride it (the feeling)," marveled 31-year-old Matthew Borchert, who went along for the entire wide-eyed ride as Fujikawa's playing partner. "This kid is unbelievable.

"He was seeing the flag everywhere," Borchert added.

And, finding where it took him no longer solely the province of youthful flights of fantasy.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.