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Fujikawa reigns at Open

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Tadd Fujikawa went wire to wire to win the Turtle Bay Resort Hawaii State Open with a birdie on No. 18.

While the rest of the state tried to stay dry yesterday, they brought out the squeegees on the North Shore and squeezed out the final round of the Turtle Bay Resort Hawaii State Open.

All the second-round leaders held on in slippery and soggy conditions at Turtle Bay’s Palmer Course.

Tadd Fujikawa birdied the final hole to beat Arizona pro Ben Sauls by one and win his first state title. Fujikawa, who turns 20 in three weeks, went wire to wire, closing with a 1-under-par 71 to finish at 12-under 204.

Sauls birdied the last two holes, nearly holing out from the fairway on the 17th. Fujikawa bogeyed that hole, but nearly holed out — twice — for eagle on the 18th. His approach shot from 73 yards just missed going in on the fly. It bounced by, checked and nearly rolled back into the hole, ending up 2 feet away for a kick-in birdie to win.

"I’ve been working on wedges that distance at Sea Island a lot," said Fujikawa in a phone interview.

He moved to the East Coast this year to train with his coaches in Georgia and play the eGolf Tour.

"There’s a practice green at the back of the range that’s almost exactly the same yardage," he said. "My mom was telling me just think about Sea Island and my practice sessions back there. I hit a really good shot."

David Ishii poured in pars on his last nine holes to keep 1987 Open champ Casey Nakama at bay and win the Seniors event. Ishii bogeyed his first hole, but played the back nine even par and never faltered on the front to finish at 72–206. Nakama (73) was three shots back at 7-under 209.

"I was just trying to stay away from making mistakes," said Ishii by phone.

The three-time champ won his first senior title in his senior debut at 55.

"I hit two putts straight into the hole, but 6 inches short," he said. "Casey and everybody was doing the same thing, hitting putts just a couple inches short. The greens were just a little slow.

"Nobody was making birdies, so that made it easier. I just had to make pars."

Ji Soo Park, 15, also went wire to wire to win the women’s flight. Park attends middle school in Taegu, South Korea, and is here for a month to practice in Hawaii’s good weather.

She was imperturbable in the soggy conditions, converting 16 pars and erasing her only bogey with a birdie at the par-3 13th.

She finished at 2-under 214, four shots better than 2009 champion Katie Kempter. The New Mexico pro shot 71 and was the only golfer to break par among the women yesterday.

Hawaii’s Britney Choy (78), Kelli Oride (77) and Mari Chun (73) shared third at 222.

Sean Maekawa, the 2007 state high school champion, was fourth overall to win low amateur honors at 69–208. Maekawa, from Paauilo on the Big Island, shared fourth with Makawao pro Sam Cyr, who double-bogeyed the third hole and fought his way back to shoot 72.

Former University of Hawaii-Hilo golfer Nick Mason, the 2008 State Open champ, was another shot back. PGA Tour pro Dean Wilson, from Kaneohe, matched Sauls’ 67 to take seventh.

With 1 1/2 inches of rain soaking Turtle Bay’s Palmer and Fazio courses before 7 a.m. yesterday, the decision was made to move everyone to the more-playable Palmer course for the final round, which was in danger of being canceled.

The start was pushed back almost 3 hours and all 98 golfers who made the cut went out in a shotgun format at 10:30 a.m. The players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls. A maintenance staff of 20-plus squeegeed fairway landing areas and greens all day.

The final round took about 6 hours and Fujikawa earned $10,000 for his patience in the intermittent rain. It was his first win in Hawaii since he captured last year’s Kahili Maui and Mid-Pacific opens. He won the eGolf Tour Championship this year, collecting more than $60,000 during the season.

Like Ishii, Fujikawa ultimately won it with pars. He parred the first 13 holes before making his first birdie, lipping out his chip shot for eagle on the 14th.

"It’s a pretty big win for me," said Fujikawa, who is hoping for a shot at his third top-35 Sony Open in Hawaii finish next month. "I won Mid-Pac and Pearl, but never really had an opportunity to play this event much. It means a lot to win, and finally win pretty much every event on the island.

"It was not a great day, but it was not bad."

 

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