CARLSBAD, Calif. » Yani Tseng continued her relentless march toward the LPGA Hall of Fame on Sunday with a win at the Kia Classic. Hawaii’s Ayaka Kaneko was a fairway over, contemplating life as a golf pro.

While Tseng was finishing off her 15th victory on the 18th hole, Kaneko’s seventh LPGA start ended at No. 9, with the non-contenders. With double bogeys on her first and last holes at La Costa Resort and Spa’s Legends Course, the Sacred Hearts graduate shot a final-round 78.

She tied for 71st at 15-over-par 303 — 29 shots back of Tseng, who at 23 is just one year older.

Kaneko’s problems were easy to trace. If she had played the back nine in even par — instead of 17 over — she would have finished 10th and won another $30,000.

"Things happen for a reason," Kaneko said, "but I just don’t understand. The front nine was OK all week, but the back nine really held me down. Whenever I had momentum, it killed it. I just don’t understand.

"I should become a member and come back and just play all back nine."

The experience was humbling, but educational.

"She just wants to be comfortable," said Matt Celczis, who has caddied since 2003 and has been on Kaneko’s bag the past two weeks. "That’s going to take the entire year to find out where she fits."

Kaneko has genetics on her side. Father Katsumi played professional baseball for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan. He encouraged her to start golf at age 12, when the family moved to Hawaii, in part because Ayaka enjoyed their "second home" so much.

The game helped her learn English. She worked with Casey Nakama, David Ishii and John Lynch, locally, becoming a Rolex Junior All-American and earning a scholarship to Pepperdine.

An injured wrist, which still bothers her, ended her collegiate career. She turned pro in 2009, playing the Futures Tour until earning full LPGA privileges for 2012.

Her father’s influence can be seen in her competitiveness and quiet focus. He tamed his gregarious child to become a stoic professional.

Kaneko stayed calm when La Costa’s back nine tortured her the final three days.

Sunday, she one-putted the final four holes to salvage a 40 on the back, nearly holing out from the 18th fairway to bring a roar from the crowd.

Kaneko was too focused and shy to acknowledge the ovation. Gelczis hopes, when she’s comfortable, that will change.

"Sometimes," he says, "when you don’t get too high or too low — which is good, it’s what you want — but sometimes when you do that you can miss the fire that makes you birdie four in a row. She doesn’t show the outward emotion that makes good things contagious."

Kaneko hit only six greens in regulation Sunday and managed only one birdie. It came on her 16th hole, too late to catch fire.

"She can make birdies," Gelczis says. "That’s never going to be her problem because she’s a great putter. She’s just got to more consistently hit the fairways and the greens and then she’s there."

For all the frustration, Kaneko was grateful for the weekend opportunity. Some 70 other golfers missed the cut, including Hawaii’s Stephanie Kono and Michelle Wie. Kaneko has made two in a row going into her next tournament — the inaugural LPGA Lotte Championship, April 18-21 at Ko Olina.

Gelczis will be back on her bag. He hopes to be there a long time.

"She’s a quiet person, but I can tell she likes competing," he says. "That’s what’s got her this far for sure, and her talent.

"The best thing about Aya’s game is her short game. Once you get to the LPGA everybody here can hit the ball. A lot of players, even the best players, struggle with chipping and putting and she’s really got an excellent touch around the greens."

Wie is the only one of Hawaii’s three LPGA players eligible for this week’s Kraft Nabisco Championship, the year’s first major. It tees off Thursday in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 2 hours north of La Costa.

Wie finished in the top 15 her first four years at Kraft, when she was a teenager. Her sixth-place finish last year was her best since 2006. Wie’s best finish in three starts this year is 38th.