Even with an abundance of late withdrawals there was no problem filling the 176 slots for the Hawaii Pearl Open, which begins today at Pearl Country Club. Half the field came from Japan and 93 golfers tried to qualify Tuesday.

John Ellis, who finally won Pearl last year after three near misses, will not defend his title. The San Jose, Calif., pro injured his thumb and was in a cast until recently. When he took the cast off last week, he felt good and changed his mind. Tuesday night he changed it again.

Two-time state high school champion Lorens Chan is also out after having surgery for appendicitis last week. Akinori Tani, who won two years ago and was second last year, pulled out.

The only former champions here are tournament director David Ishii, former Pearl Country Club pro Kevin Hayashi, Lance Suzuki, Jesse Mueller and Kiyoshi Murota, who shares a birthday (July 26, 1955) and a long golf history with Ishii here and in Japan.

Nick Mason, out of Leilehua and Hawaii-Hilo, finished second to Tani in 2010 and second with him last year. He is back, along with Hawaii pros Parker McLachlin and Sean Maekawa.

Tadd Fujikawa was the last Hawaii golfer to win this tournament, back in 2007, and the only amateur champion in the past 20 years.

The weather has played a big part in recent Pearl Opens — last year’s first round was washed out — and it could have a hand in whether a Hawaii golfer wins this year.

"We try to make the course as tough as possible for this time of year," Ishii said. "The roughs are pretty good and we try to get the greens fast. If the wind blows, it will get tough, but recently there hasn’t been much wind. …I think the local guys have a better chance if it blows and it’s better if it blows in all different directions everyday so nobody knows the distances."

Mainland pros here include 2011 Mid-Pacific Open champion Nathan Lashley and former University of Washington teammates Zach Bixler and Nick Taylor, the 2010 college player of the year. Some of the top Japan pros are former Japan Open winner Keiichiro Fukabori and JGTO champs Hideki Kase and Han Lee.

The diversity of the field has led to some fascinating foursomes.

Tommy Nakajima’s son, Masao, is playing with Bixler, state girls high school champion Eimi Koga and 16-year-old Masamichi Ito, who has been coming here since he was 12. That group goes off the 10th tee today at 8:30 a.m.

Koga is one of four women playing. The others are pro Mari Chun and amateur qualifiers Brittany Fan and Allisen Corpuz.

McLachlin, Mueller, Maekawa and Korean pro Gi Ho Jung start on the first tee at 12:30 p.m. today. Mueller, a pro from Arizona, holed out twice for eagle on the final day to win by eight shots in 2009. He shares the tournament record of 19 under par with 1998 champ Katsumasa Miyamoto.

Murota, a three-time champion, is playing with Kala Ka‘aihue, Donny Hopoi and Ryotaru Kato, a former low-am winner. They go off No. 10 at 12:20 p.m. today.