After recovering from a rough opening round on Thursday, Tyler Ota considered playing his way into a playoff on Saturday “a cherry on top.”
He had another treat left in store when he emerged from the four-way playoff with the 52nd Oahu Country Club Men’s Invitational title.
Ota entered the final round tied for 12th and eight shots out of the lead. He vaulted to the top of the leaderboard with a bogey-free 6-under-par 65 and was joined by three others at 2 under for the tournament.
He drained 15-foot birdie putts on the second and third playoff holes to win at OCC for the second time this summer, pairing Saturday’s victory with the Manoa Cup title he captured in June.
Ota said his goal for the round was simply to “post a good number,” and perhaps sneak into the top five. He did just that and extended a streak of dual Manoa Cup and OCC Invitational winners to six. He joined Nainoa Calip, Jared Sawada, Matthew Ma and David Fink, who accomplished the feat in 2010 and ‘11. Brandan Kop won both tournaments in 1998 and Kalua Makalena was the first to do so in 1981.
“It’s nice to be on a short list like that, but I’m far behind,” said Ota, 21. “I’m still learning all of this stuff. I have a lot of catching up to do.”
Ota certainly did after an opening-round 74 on Thursday. He shot a 72 on Friday and was still well behind Ma, who took the lead with a 66 in the second round.
Ota teed off on No. 10 on Saturday at 3 over and was back to even par at the turn. He chipped in for birdie on No. 5, drained par putts on the next three holes and dropped a 30-footer for birdie on the par-3 ninth hole.
He was joined at 2-under 211 by recent Punahou graduate Colin Laszlo, San Diego State sophomore P.J. Samiere and Moanalua’s Jun Ho Won.
Laszlo had a chance to end the playoff on the first hole, but his birdie putt stopped on the edge of the cup.
Won’s drive on the par-5 second hole sailed into a rock pile, effectively taking him out of contention. Ota pulled his approach to the left of the green, while Laszlo and Samiere were on in two to set up two-putt birdies. After chipping past the pin, Ota rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt to survive.
After Ota’s drive on No. 3 drifted into the rough on the right side of the fairway, he took a 54-degree wedge and “I just swung out of my shoes.”
His approach landed about 15 feet from the pin, and after Samiere missed his birdie putt, Ota drained another. Laszlo’s birdie putt then stayed out of the cup to end the tournament.
