Kua survives Hawaii State Open

KOHALA COAST, Hawaii >> After a week unlike any other at the Mauna Lani Resort Hawaii State Open, golfers hoped to at least slog through the final round Sunday.

Didn’t happen. That persistent rain that delayed Friday’s opening round returned Saturday night and washed out Sunday, giving TJ Kua and Nicole Sakamoto their first State Open titles.

They were among the last golfers standing Sunday. A stomach ailment was responsible for nearly a dozen withdrawals, including Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer David Ishii and former Aloha Section PGA President Lance Taketa.

Taketa was well enough Sunday to make his way to an awards ceremony. Many, many more in the field of nearly 200 suffered symptoms on the course.

That group included Sakamoto and Kua, whose bogey-free 68 Saturday at Mauna Lani’s North Course gave him a one-shot victory over David Fink. Kua finished at 7-under-par 137.

“I probably dodged a bullet,” Kua said about Sunday’s cancellation. “I wanted to play. You want to be tested even if you’re not practicing. You want to see where you stand. Nobody wants to win or lose that way. I’ve been on both sides.”

Then Kua, who won the Manoa Cup in 2009 and fell to Fink in the 2010 final, let a little smile sneak out.

“It’s better when you’re ahead,” he acknowledged.

Sakamoto, a Kalani graduate heading into her third season on the LPGA’s Symetra Tour, had a similar reaction. After shooting 71 the first two days, she held a three-shot advantage over defending champion Britney Yada, and admitted it was easier to swallow the cancellation news when you hold the lead.

“I was able to win, but I just wanted to be in that position again on Sunday because I haven’t been in it for a while,” she said. “I wanted to feel the difference between how it was as an amateur and a pro. I was going in a little nervous.”

The victory gave her the missing major on her Hawaii women’s golf resume. After going to college at James Madison — where she won twice — she captured seven Jennie K., State Stroke and State Match Play titles in 10 starts. She turned pro shortly after capturing her fourth consecutive Stroke Play Championship in 2013. Her only wins since came on the Suncoast mini-tour.

She didn’t expect another victory this week, after she and Yada — who just graduated from Symetra to the LPGA Tour at this month’s Q-School — both staggered through Friday’s round with stomach problems.

Sakamoto’s putting saved her, along with a lucky bounce off the lava rocks on her only seriously bad swing.

She was talked into playing the State Open on her vacation by boyfriend/caddie Alvin Okada.

“Alvin said I might as well,” Sakamoto said. “He said it would be fun and also this would be a good test to tell you where you are going into Symetra next year. This will actually help give me little more confidence.”

Kua also had a stellar amateur career here. His last win as a pro came in the 2013 Mid-Pacific Open, after he shot a second-round 62.

He is a teacher at Aloha Golf now and lucky to play nine holes a week. His next major events are Sony Open qualifying and a July marriage, which made the $10,000 winner’s check more meaningful.

Kua credited a sweet second shot to the green on the par-5 second hole Saturday as the one-stroke difference. He also felt his sore stomach might have helped.

“Maybe it was a blessing,” Kua shrugged. “It kept my mind off what actually was going on. I was just telling myself to survive and hang in there. Distraction helps.”

Kua is the first golfer other than Dean Wilson and Nick Mason to win since the Aloha Section PGA moved the State Open to Mauna Lani in 2012. Mason shared third with Cory Oride and past champions Sam Cyr (2011) and Tadd Fujikawa (2010), at 140. Cyr fired a tournament-low 64 Saturday. Wilson, the first-round leader, was part of a four-way tie for seventh with Alex Ching, at 142.

Punahou’s Andrew Chin (72—144) was low amateur, and 13th overall. Reigning Manoa Cup champ Brent Grant, the amateur qualifier for this year’s Sony Open, was a shot back.

Senior champions were Tom Sovay (68—137), a PGA pro from the Pacific Northwest Section, and Kauai amateur Jonathan Ota (75—148).

Brittany Fan (73—148) took low amateur honors among the women, and was third overall. David Budway (80—159) won A Flight.

Both Mauna Lani courses were soaked with 2 inches of rain in a 12-hour span that started Saturday night and ended when the final round was officially canceled at 10 a.m. Sunday. The courses were determined to be “unplayable and unsafe.” It was the first State Open rainout since 2008.