KAPOLEI — Julieta Granada's mother never has to ask her daughter how things went at work. She need not wonder what confronts her daughter daily.

That's mostly because Rosa Granada is there every step of the 18 holes each LPGA tournament as her caddie and a lot more.

For Julieta, one of the rising young players on tour, mommy dearest is also mommy nearest as the Fields Open in Hawai'i begins today at Ko Olina Resort.

They are the only regular mother-daughter team on tour, a rarity made more remarkable by the way they not only coexist but flourish in an atmosphere where pressure is measured by tons per square inch and the difference between success and disappointment is often calculated in mere millimeters.

Even with huge purses on the line — and Julieta won $1 million, the largest payoff in women's history, at the ADT Championships in November — they can seem more like sisters playing a Sunday morning public course round than parent and child illuminated on the biggest stages in women's golf.

At ages where mothers and daughters can be at each other's nerves, these two, separated by 28 years but joined by a passion for golf and pursuit of success, long ago found and nurtured an enduring equilibrium. "I'm more patient and she is more calm," Rosa said. "It is a weird combination, but it works."

It has worked for three years, during which the now-20-year-old Julieta paid her dues on the Futures Tour, won an LPGA card and set a tour record for earnings ($1.64 million) by a rookie last year.

"She gives me something that, maybe, some of the other caddies won't be able to because she knows me so well as a daughter, as a friend and as a golfer," Julieta said. "She knows my game inside and out and she knows — obviously — me inside and out."

Ask other pros about the synergy and they are incredulous. Just the physical element is amazing for the 5-foot-4 Rosa. "Oh my goodness, my mom cannot carry the bag for 10 yards, let alone 18 holes," said SBS Open winner Paula Creamer, chuckling at any thoughts of approximating the Granadas.

The Granadas tease each other, kidding about Mom getting a raise and joking about her job security. And, then, as Rosa likes to put it, they "go to work," which means Rosa provides the yardage and moral support and Julieta does the rest. And when things go well, as they did at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay last week where Julieta finished second and landed an eagle, there are shared smiles and matching yet original pumps of fists.

But, then it has been a shared journey of discovery in so many realms that binds them. The mother, who had played to a 10-handicap in their native Paraguay, put on hold a career as an architect to accompany her daughter to the U.S. six years ago on a golfing academy scholarship and follow a mutual dream. Together they learned English, picked up the finer points of golf and bicycled around Bradenton, Fla. to save money. All the while the father, Alejandro, remained in Asuncion as a greenskeeper at one of Paraguay's six courses.

And when the cost of hiring a caddie on a limited budget became prohibitive on the Futures Tour, mom jumped in and shouldered the bag. No easy task given the bulky piece Granada travels with and number of balls she gives away to kids in the gallery.

Yet, when Julieta won the $1 million purse at ADT, there was no talk of mom going to the other side of the ropes. "No, not even crossed my mind," Julieta maintained. "Winning gives you ...(it) just makes you believe in what you're doing even more. You know, with my mom on my bag it worked last year so why change it? It is working fine."

Said Rosa: "No, this is not about money. I enjoy too much being with her and doing what I'm doing as long as I'm healthy — and she doesn't fire me."

Not much chance of that, even if she could. Not after they have come this far together.

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