As Evan Kawai tried to steady his hands while lining up a putt to extend his stay in the Manoa Cup bracket, he started second-guessing his breakfast decisions a few hours earlier Friday morning.
“I kind of regretted drinking that cup of coffee,” Kawai said.
Kawai was 1 down in his match with defending champion Joshua Sedeno and needed to drop the knee-knocker 4-foot birdie putt on Oahu Country Club’s 18th green to force their quarterfinal match into extra holes. After meticulously measuring the putt, he calmly stroked it into the cup to survive another hole.
Such moments exemplify the challenge of grinding through to the final day of the state amateur stroke-play championship, and Kawai and Tyler Ota weathered the tension through two matches on Friday to earn the opportunity to do it all again today.
Kawai and Ota will make their second appearances in the Manoa Cup final when they close out the physically and mentally taxing week with a 36-hole duel starting at 7 a.m.
“It’s always on the calendar to make it to Saturday and have that Sunday just to relax,” said Ota, the 2015 champion and medalist in Monday’s qualifying round. “It’s 64 guys, it’s so many holes we play, so it’s nice to say we’re the last two guys here.”
After extending his quarterfinal match, Kawai won the next hole in less stressful fashion to end Sedeno’s attempt to become the first back-to-back Manoa Cup champion since David Fink’s 2010 and ’11 victories. Kawai chipped close to the hole with his third shot on No. 1 and Sedeno sent a bunker shot sailing into the brush behind the green. After a brief search, Sedeno conceded the hole and the match.
“Being in college I’ve learned everything was a mind-set,” said Kawai, who reached the 2017 final before falling to Andy Okita. “I knew I couldn’t control what the other guy was doing and I knew that if I just handled myself properly on the golf course I should just trust that it would all work out in the end, and I’m lucky that today that happened. I kept my attitude under control and my emotions under control, which was a big part of the success today.”
Kawai returned in the afternoon and defeated former Punahou classmate and current University of San Diego teammate Remington Hirano for a 3-and-1 win to reach his second final in the past three years. Kawai was 1 down through 13 holes but won the next four to catch and pass Hirano. A curling 15-foot putt on the par-3 16th gave him a 2-up lead and he closed out the match with another birdie on 17.
“(Hirano has) been a great friend and a great teammate,” Kawai said. “It was kind of sad to play against him, but at the same time it was fun and we kept it friendly. It was a good match.”
Ota appeared to be cruising toward his first Manoa Cup final since his 2015 title run after defeating Justin Ngan, last year’s runner up, 5 and 4 in the quarterfinals and taking a 5-up lead with six holes to play in his semifinal matchup with Maryknoll junior Peter Jung.
Earlier in the day Jung rallied from 3 down at the turn for a 3-and-1 win over 2012 champion Matthew Ma, and he caught fire again late against Ota. He rolled in a 15-foot birdie on 16, chipped in from 50 feet for eagle on No. 17 and made another birdie on 18 to force overtime.
“To do it under that type of pressure is pretty amazing to watch,” Ota said of Jung’s charge.
They halved No. 1 with pars and Ota had the advantage when Jung pulled his drive off the No. 2 tee. With a Kona wind at his back, Ota hammered his drive on the par-5 to 119 yards out, then dropped his approach inside of 3 feet of the pin for a shot at eagle. Jung’s third shot settled on the back fringe and he conceded after his chip for birdie slid past the cup.
“I learned a lot,” Jung said. “Tyler, Matt and all of them helped me out, so that’s pretty cool. It was a great experience.
“This whole week I didn’t expect much. Less expectations helped me out the most, just play.”
