Looking for competition and home cooking to help them chase PGA Tour status, Shawn Lu and John Oda came back for this year’s 64th Mid-Pacific Open.
They transformed it into a Moanalua High School reunion that brought back vivid memories of their remarkable Na Menehune golf careers together.
From 2012-2016, Lu and Oda helped Moanalua capture two state team championships and a trio of individual titles. Oda closed his career with individual wins in 2012 — when Moanalua won its first state boys team title — and 2014, and was second as a junior before playing for UNLV. Lu led Na Menehune to the 2016 state title as a senior, earning medalist honors on his way to Oregon State.
Lu made up that medalist deficit Sunday at Mid-Pacific Country Club, birdieing the final two holes to beat Oda by three shots for the Open title.
Lu went into the final round two shots back of his former teammate. He fired a 4-under-par 68 in the final round, but couldn’t catch up until Oda had his first bogeys, at Nos. 13 and 14.
Oda seized the lead again with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th.
Lu found his magic and fought back with birdies on the final two holes, ending a streak of nine straight pars.
From the right rough, he hit it within six feet on the 17th and converted to tie … for a moment. Oda three-putted from far across the green to fall a shot back.
On the 72nd hole, Lu’s approach stopped in the front fringe. As Oda contemplated a par putt that might get him into a playoff, Lu launched a low runner that died in the hole for the winning birdie.
Before finishing, Oda hugged his friend, who traveled with him to tournaments in Asia earlier this year.
“The last two holes were just a coin flip,” Oda said.
“A tossup honestly,” Lu agreed. “I was just trying stay in it, it was pretty nerve-wracking.”
“I was trying to keep my distance from him,” Oda grinned.
“It felt like a friendly match with him,” Lu said, smiling back.
“With a little less trash talking,” Oda admitted.
Lu finished at 15-under 273. He collected $18,000 of the $75,000 purse, along with a one-year MPCC membership. Oda, an All-American at UNLV before leaving a year early to go pro, closed with 73.
High school senior Luciano Conlan broke par all four days in his Open debut. He was third overall at 9 under and captured low-amateur honors. Conlan moved back to Hawaii last year and is being home-schooled and representing Turtle Bay before heading to UCLA on a scholarship in the fall. He played with Lu and Oda in the final group.
“It was cool to play with some professionals because you can tell they had a lot of experience. They don’t look nervous at all,” Conlan said. “They just put an easy swing to it and seem so used to it.”
Oregon amateur Landon Banks (68) shared fourth with Hawaii pros Cory Oride and Kyle Suppa at 4 under. Pros Nick Mason (75—287), the 2012 Mid-Pac champ, and Alex Ching (74—288) were the only others to shoot par or better, at a tough MPCC course made tougher by a big rain Thursday afternoon.
“Most of the guys at the top of the leaderboard are all friends from high school,” said Lu, who was low amateur at Mid-Pacific in 2016. “It was definitely a fun time at home.”
Ching, who won the last two Mid-Pac Opens, is back playing the pro tour in Asia. Lu will go back to Dallas and Oda to Las Vegas to play mini-tours and state opens as they continue chasing their PGA Tour dream.
Punahou alum Allisen Corpuz gave them inspiration over the weekend, pulling into a share of the lead heading into the final day of the year’s first LPGA major.
Back home Lu and Oda, who lost his Korn Ferry Tour status during the pandemic after earning a handful of Top-10 tour finishes early, both enjoyed their “Back to the Future” final round at Mid-Pacific.
“It was cool because we are focused, just going at it,” Lu said. “That’s something you don’t get very often. I thought it was really cool being in the moment and having pressure and doing things under pressure.”
Juan Rodriguez captured the Senior flight, winning a playoff over Kevin Hayashi. Robert Hansen took A flight and Hong Vuong B flight.
