Early Tuesday morning, golf and weather collided in Lanikai.

Weather won, canceling the final — singles — round of the Gov. John A. Burns Challenge Cup. It came at a Mid-Pacific Country Club inundated and rendered unplayable in a matter of minutes.

Nobody won the Cup, with a dozen Aloha Section PGA pros and 12 of the finest Hawaii State Golf Association amateurs playing to a 6-all tie in Monday’s first two rounds.

It was the second tie in the 47-year history of the Cup, founded by Hawaii’s second governor and golf pro buddy Ron Castillo, who would be inducted into the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame.

They wanted to bring the state’s best players together in a Ryder Cup format that offered no prize money but lots of prestige and time to enjoy the game and each other.

Amateurs won the inaugural Cup, with the Pros taking 11 of the next 13. They still lead 27-18 (there was one other tie in 1983), winning the last four after Amateurs dominated from 2007-2014.

This year’s 12 amateurs, who qualified through a year-long points process, play for the coveted Sony Open in Hawaii amateur exemption Monday at Waialae Country Club.

The pros go back to what they do best, in a sport that provides astonishingly varied career opportunities.

Jared Sawada won Sony’s amateur exemption and — just after receiving a degree in sociology from the University of Hawaii — the 105th Manoa Cup in 2013.

He turned pro in 2014 and missed qualifying for the Asian Tour by a shot. That was followed by time on California mini tours, a year on the Japan PGA’s Challenge Tour, two on the PGA Tour’s Mackenzie Tour in Canada, then more time on mainland greens to prepare for Q-School.

This month, he qualified for the Korn Ferry (formerly Web.com) Q-School Finals, guaranteeing himself a playing card next year. Where he finishes in the Finals, Dec. 12-15 in Florida, will dictate how many starts he gets. Hawaii’s Brent Grant, Alex Chiarella and Lorens Chan will also be there.

Sawada calls it the greatest accomplishment of his career, along with Monday qualifying for Sony last January.

“I keep improving my game,” says Sawada, unbeaten in the last two Governor’s Cups. “I’ve never got to where I want to be. The goal is playing on (the PGA) Tour, but I look back each year and I’ve gotten better as a player.

“The challenge is you are always battling between the half of you saying you’re not good enough and the other half saying you really can do it.”

It is something for the Hawaii amateurs who dream of a pro career to remember. Sawada and Scott Bridges, his Cup teammate this week, come from vastly different golf backgrounds, but both emphasize there is something more important than simply playing.

“You’ve got to practice hard and love the game, enjoy being out there,” Sawada says. “If you are not having fun playing big tournaments, at whatever level, then I don’t think you’ll last.”

Bridges echoes those thoughts.

“Just love the game and love the people you meet,” the Hualalai pro says. “Never burn any bridges and play in the moment. You never know.

“Honestly, all the people I’ve met are what it’s really all about. From a golf standpoint there are a lot of good rounds, but it’s not just about winning. I’ve played with Presidents (George H.W. Bush).”

Bridges moved to Hawaii in 1990 to work at Mauna Lani “for a year … Hawaii kind of grows on you.” He has been a member of the Aloha Section PGA since, with career side trips to California and Florida.

A few months ago he won the Hapuna Roundup, birdieing two of the final three holes to beat Waialae head pro Kevin Carll by one.

It was Bridges’ first individual victory since he was a junior, a span of “500 or 600” tournaments, he figures. He wore a kilt to the banquet to celebrate. He ranks it No. 1 on his golf highlight reel.

“It’s got to be the best ever because I won,” Bridges says. “It’s good to go back where you worked before and win where you were head pro.”

And … “It was good to beat all the young kids at Hapuna. It was a good field so it was fun.”

A few months earlier he finished second to Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer David Ishii in the Senior Flight of the Mid-Pacific Open. At 51 and newly eligible as a senior, Bridges should have more opportunities.

“I know I have about six years of good window to win,” he says, “so I’m working a little harder.”

Then he laughed.

“I think I’m trending.”