On a day when nothing went right for the leaders, steady Randy Shibuya rallied from four strokes back to win the State Amateur Stroke Play Golf Championship at Pearl Country Club.
Shibuya, 26, entered the day in a three-way tie for fourth with a three-round total of 5-over- 221. He made three birdies on the back nine to finish at even-par 72. His 293 total beat 15-year-old Gabriel Wilson by one.
Russell Nygard made four bogeys on the back nine for a 77 and finished third at 295. Norman-Ganin Asao, who started the day in first with a one-stroke lead over Nygard, suffered through a nightmarish start to finish at 79-296.
Shibuya, a course attendant at the Hawai‘i Prince Golf Course, bogeyed three holes on the front nine but regrouped with birdies on Nos. 12, 16, and 17.
"The start was not too good," Shibuya said. "But, I was able to hit a lot of greens on the back nine and I made my putts."
Shibuya trailed Wilson and Nygard by one stroke heading into the par-3 16th. Shibuya birdied the hole to take the lead while Wilson and Nygard both bogeyed.
Shibuya and Wilson both birdied No. 17 and parred No. 18 to maintain the final margin. Nygard made par on both holes.
Shibuya said he didn’t know he had the advantage until a reporter told him on No. 17.
"I got really nervous but I think it made me focus better," he said. "I was trying to be consistent."
Consistency was hard to come by for the rest of the field as players struggled to drive against gusty winds.
Nygard double-bogeyed the par-4 No. 4, then bogeyed Nos. 12, 13, 15 and 16. Wilson birdied Nos. 6, 11 and 17, but bogeyed Nos. 5, 8, 10, 15 and 16.
"I was having trouble with my irons," said Wilson, who placed second in the State Open earlier this year. "I just couldn’t hit the greens."
Asao had perhaps the most perplexing day. He opened with a double-bogey on the par-5 No. 1, then bogeyed seven of the next 12 holes. His four birdies on the day, three on the back nine, kept him a stroke ahead of fifth-place finisher Joe Phengsavath.
"I just couldn’t get a rhythm started today," Asao said. "I tried to grind it out, but it was tough out there. I didn’t putt well and I lost a lot of strokes."
It was the first win of the year for Shibuya, last year’s Manoa Cup champion. He placed 10th in the State Open, 14th in the Hilo Open and failed to make the cut at the Pearl Open.
