A quick dose of liquid sunshine blessed overtime, golf-style, in beautiful Lanikai on Sunday afternoon and spectators had their choice of playoffs to watch at the Mid-Pac Open.

There was the championship, as Nick Mason outlasted fellow pro Nathan Lashley, replaying the 18th hole. Or, you could walk a few feet to the right and see Kyle Yawata hold off Evan Kawai for the A flight title.

A flight? Really? Isn’t "A flight" tournamentese for "pretty decent weekend hackers?"

You’d think the choice would be a no-brainer. Except for one thing — Kawai is 12-years-old.

So a crowd gathered from the clubhouse to see the 5-foot, 103-pound Punahou sixth-grader in action.

Even after Kawai and Yawata hit their first shots, a half-dozen guys remained at the first tee for several minutes, watching from afar as the preteen and his not-much-bigger playing partner made their way down the fairway.

The immobile, impromptu gallery sipped on beverages Kawai won’t be able to drink legally until 2021.

"I’d rather watch the kids go at it," said one, when told that Mason and Lashley were approaching the green at 18.

The funny part of that is Yawata isn’t really a kid, he just looks like one. He said he started playing golf 15 years ago, when he was Kawai’s age.

"Except it wasn’t really golf," Yawata added. "I was just whacking balls with my grandfather’s wooden clubs at the driving range.

"They start ’em younger and younger now," said the preschool teacher from Aiea. "When I was growing up, there weren’t as many options for junior golf. Now every course has a program and they’re producing so many good players."

Ho-hum. Another day, another golf prodigy from Hawaii. It’s like an assembly line now.

Yes, it might be too early to anoint Kawai with full-fledged fledgling superstar membership. If you look at his 80-80-78-77 in this tournament as 25-over par it’s not impressive at all.

But consider that he improved as the event went along, and that he made up five strokes in the final round to force the playoff for the championship of his flight.

And how about that hole-in-one he plopped in Thursday with his 7-iron on No. 4?

"I just want to improve a little every day, lower my handicap and keep it fun," said Kawai, who likes to play football, baseball and volleyball as much as golf. "I’m still learning, and there’s lots more to learn."

Some lessons come the hard way. As he lined up his 6-footer for par on the playoff hole, Kawai ignored the little voice telling him his putter was aimed too far left. "I probably should have stopped and started it over," Kawai said. "I learned a lot this tournament."

He’s already good enough to impress the other "kid" he played with Sunday. "Evan’s a really solid player," Yawata said. "He hits it really straight and pretty far for his age and size. He’s got soft hands, good around the greens. Just grow a little bit and he’ll be fine."

Does he have the same kind of potential as the other Hawaii prodigies? Too soon to tell. But he has this in common with the Michelle Wies and Tadd Fujikawas: drive and focus.

"He’s well-balanced, but he’s a very determined individual," said his father, Keith Kawai. "He doesn’t accept anything other than excellence."

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.