KAPOLEI — "Shhhhh!" Angela Park whispered in mock seriousness, pressing a finger to her lips for effect.

"It is a secret."

"It" was her avowed — yesterday — goal of winning the LPGA Tour's Rookie of the Year award in 2007. Something definitely not as far-fetched as, say, the hope of trying to keep the goal a secret after revealing and reiterating it to a group of reporters in the press tent.

Park, herself, had been something of a secret — at least until booming out to a share of the lead in the opening round of the Fields Open in Hawai'i with a 6-under-par 66 to tie Stacy Prammanasudh at Ko Olina Resort yesterday.

For one thing, at age 18, Park is the youngest of the 137 pros in the field, barely out of high school in Torrance, Calif. For another she is one of seven surnamed Park or Pak on the circuit, a tough crowd to stand out in to be sure. Add to that she has been a pro barely 10 months and her apparel, lacking the presence of sponsor logos, gives her the appearance of a spectator.

Well, maybe, until she birdied five of the first seven holes and seven overall against one bogey, grabbing the top spot early and maintaining a share of it on the leader board despite the gusting winds.

Born in Brazil, raised in California and living in Florida, Park has been nothing if not up to challenges. She speaks Korean, Portuguese and English and is working on Japanese. In all of them she frequently reminds herself of the the goal that drives her, making an early mark by becoming the rookie of the year. It is a target she set immediately after earning her card in qualifying school in November and, truth be told, probably not long after she picked up her first set of clubs.

"I'm always thinking about that and when I'm practicing I think about that," Park said. "Like, when I get lazy, I'm (saying), 'Come on, you've got to get Rookie of the Year, so go practice!' It is very good motivation for me to have that in mind for this year and, for now, that's my goal, Rookie of the Year, basically."

She need only look around at the 32 other rookies to glimpse the depth of the challenge she has chosen.

"Everyone is so good. All of the rookies, they are my friends, so it is a little bit hard," Park said. "But if it comes down to the line where I have to beat them and they are my friends, it doesn't matter. I have to beat them."

In the meantime, she said she would just as soon keep the talk of her goal under wraps. "Maybe they won't read the newspaper. A secret, OK?"

Not much chance of that, especially if she keeps playing rounds like yesterday's.

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