Leong edges Lee, advances at Manoa Cup

Aiko Leong was a bit surprised to see her name in the Manoa Cup bracket Monday afternoon.

Two wins later, the Punahou senior-to-be now shares a place with Buffanblu alum Alina Ching in the tournament’s storied history.

After shooting an 80 in Monday’s qualifying round, Leong "played with no expectations" when she entered match play as the 55th seed in the 64-player field. With victories in the first two rounds, she joined Ching as the only females to reach the round of 16 in the state amateur match play championship.

A member of Oahu Country Club, Leong’s familiarity with the course — its greens in particular — helped her edge Brian Lee 2 and 1 in a crisply played duel Wednesday.

"Pretty much everything went well today," Leong said. "I made some good putts that were really crucial."

Leong parred the first eight holes and took a 2-up lead when she drained a nearly 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth hole. She gave it back with a bogey on No. 10 but continued to drop pressure putts to maintain her lead and match Ching’s run in 2010.

She pointed to a par putt on No. 12 and another for birdie on the 15th, both after Lee rolled in putts, as pivotal moments in the match.

Leong said her "mental game fell apart" late at the David Ishii Foundation/HHSAA State Championship last month and she finished sixth after carding a 41 on the back nine in the final round.

Since then "I’ve been working on my mental game to not feel the pressure, so I’ve been improving on that," Leong said.

Leong, a BYU commit, will face University of Hawaii senior Scotty Yamashita in a third-round match at 7:40 a.m. Thursday. She caddied for Cassy Isagawa last year and carried her bag in a second-round loss to Yamashita, who outlasted Nick Ushijima 2 and 1 on Wednesday.

On the other side of the bracket, Chris Byrer knocked off top-seeded Justin Ngan 4 and 3 and a new name will be etched onto the cup after Saturday’s 36-hole final with the exit of two past champions.

Dalen Yamauchi eliminated four-time champion Brandan Kop 5 and 4 and Chaminade junior Mark Uekawa went 19 holes to beat 2012 winner Matthew Ma.

Uekawa was 2 up going to the 17th tee, but Ma closed the gap with a birdie and the match was extended when Uekawa’s 4-foot par putt on 18 lipped out.

Uekawa’s father and caddy, Maryknoll softball coach John Uekawa, helped him remain composed heading back to the first hole to continue the match.

"I just thought to myself ‘it’s just another hole I have to play,’ " Mark Uekawa said. "It’s so much stress, especially playing a great player like Matt."

Ma’s approach plugged in a greenside bunker and he took two swings to get out of the sand. He conceded when Uekawa cozied his putt close to the pin.

"I had a lot of opportunities today," Ma said. "I was actually hitting the ball well, just wasn’t able to capitalize on anything.

"That’s how match play goes. You look back and you just say, ‘what if.’ "

Punahou junior Andrew Chin nearly had one of those moments after seeing a 4-up lead after 11 holes disappear over the next six. He drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole to finally get past Nick Matsushima, a 2012 finalist.

Brent Grant was 3 down with five holes to play before rallying to beat Kyosuke Hara 1 up. Grant’s approach on No. 18 sailed over the green, but he chipped to 6 feet and his par putt gave him the win over Hara, a former teammate at Moanalua.

"From the very beginning I knew it was going to be a tough round," Grant said. "He’s an amazing competitor."

Grant advanced to face another former Moanalua teammate in Shawn Lu, who advanced in one of the tournament’s more unusual finishes.

Lu was 1 down against Chaminade’s Jarin Harada with both standing over birdie putts on the 18th green. But Harada picked up his ball and withdrew due to a flight scheduled for Thursday morning.

"I was really shocked," Lu said. "I got lucky I guess."

Grant is headed to Oregon State in September and will be joined by Hara and Lu, incoming Moanalua seniors, the following year.

"It should be interesting," Lu said of playing Grant. "I have to play better tomorrow that’s all I know."