Shigezawa wins gusty Mid-Pacific Open

That last loud whoosh heard at Mid-Pacific Country Club on Sunday was a huge sigh of relief coming from Bradley Shigezawa when he had finally claimed the 57th Mid-Pacific Open championship.

A final-round 78 never felt so good, buffeted as it was by big breeze roaring in the 30-mph range all day.

"My round was as bad as it could have been but just good enough," said Shigezawa, who won the Maui Open in his first pro start last November. "The first three rounds I was able to avoid the course’s booby traps and miss in the right areas. Today I found all the problem areas.

"I hit the ball fine, pretty darn well. But with this kind of wind you don’t have absolute control of your ball. Even good shots can put you in really bad positions."

At 3-under-par 285, Shigezawa was the only golfer in red numbers at the end after opening with a 7-under-par 65 in relatively ordinary tradewinds Thursday.

The gusts grew each day and so did scores. Sunday’s big blasts were extraordinary, particularly when paired with Sunday pin placements and greens mowed so low they were bright brown.

Shigezawa had one downhill putt stop three times before the wind finally left it alone. Maui’s Garrett Okamura, who finished fourth at 76—291, just looked at his ball on the 18th green and it blew back 2 feet. Trouble off the tee led to a bogey-double bogey finish that cost him a share of second with San Jose’s John Ellis.

Ellis, 35, won the Canadian Tour Order of Merit in 2008 and the Hawaii Pearl Open three years later. He finished three shots behind Shigezawa after a remarkable 4-under-par 68.

It was the day’s low score — by three shots — and included a hole-in-one at No. 4 and five birdies that got him to 2 under for the tournament after 13 holes. He played the last five in 2 over.

He and Okamura, the 2014 Aloha Section PGA Player of the Year, were just two shots back after consecutive bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16 for Shigezawa. The wire-to-wire winner ended the drama by slam-dunking a 60-foot birdie putt on the next hole.

"I just had a good feeling over my putts today even though I wasn’t making my putts," Shigezawa said. "I kept telling myself one of these are going to go in.

"On 17 I thought it’s still out there. I’m still due one and, of all things, the hole got in the way on a 60-foot putt."

TJ Kua, the 2013 champ, grabbed third a shot behind Ellis. Kua, who played the last six holes in 2 over, finished with a 71. So did Andrew Chin, who lost a three-hole playoff with Brent Grant for low-amateur honors. Both finished at 294, and tied for fifth overall with Cory Oride.

Chin and Kua were the only other golfers to break par in a final round that bordered on the ridiculous. Defending champ Nick Mason, in second going into the final round, shot 85. Former PGA Tour golfer Dean Wilson, the only guy to break par Saturday, had 76.

The winner could only roll his eyes.

"It was hard to not feel like it was slipping away, just by the scores I was posting," said Shigezawa, who had a front-nine 41. "It was so bad that I had to believe someone has got to be right behind me."

After a double-bogey on No. 9 and a bogey on the next hole, Shigezawa checked to see where he stood and slowly gathered himself. He played the back nine in 1 over.

Shigezawa, who won the 2013 NCAA D-III national championship his junior year at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, won $14,000. The 23-year-old has three Top 20s on the Gateway Tour in 2015 and will spend the rest of the year trying to qualify for one of the major tours.

He started in Casey Nakama’s junior golf development program 13 years ago and for now golf is his priority, with med school waiting in the wings.

"To get my second professional win back at home in, of all tournaments the Mid-Pac Open, is a great feeling," Shigezawa said. "Especially having struggled the past couple months playing on the mainland."

Kevin Hayashi won the Senior Pro title and $6,000, shooting 74—300 to tie for 15th overall. The Senior Amateur title went to Mike Kawate at 81—317.

MID-PACIFIC OPEN

At Mid-Pacific Country Club
(a)–amateur