Lee wins by one stroke
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
LANIKAI — Mark Takahama, Philip Chun and a relentlessly gusty wind huffed and puffed yesterday, but could not blow down Regan Lee. Lee was, however, teetering by the Mid-Pacific Open's last hole.
Photos by Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"Good thing we ran out of holes," Lee said with a grin after holding on to win by one shot at Mid-Pacific Country Club. Takahama captured second with a 3-under-par 69 — the day's low round — and Chun was two back at 73-289.
Philip Chun reacts after missing a birdie putt on No. 12. Chun finished third, two strokes behind winner Regan Lee.
Lee became the first to defend a Mid-Pac title since Lance Suzuki a decade ago. The final round might have seemed like a decade to Lee, who went in with a six-stroke lead and nearly let it get away with a 5-over-par 77. At 1-under 287, he was the only golfer to finish under par.
It was barely enough to earn the $6,000 first prize over Takahama, 34, a landscaper who earned his best finish since turning pro in 1996, the year after he won the State Amateur.
Takahama's only bogey, on the next-to-last hole, proved decisive. He started the day nine behind Lee and cut his deficit to six with birdies on the first three holes. When Lee four-putted the eighth hole for double bogey, and Takahama tacked on another birdie at the ninth, the difference was three at the turn.
At the 12th tee, Takahama discovered Lee was within range. But all the 12- to 15-foot birdies he had made on the front nine, where he needed just 11 putts, came up short on the back.
"I kept hitting the ball pretty good," Takahama said. "I gave myself a chance. I just kept coming up short."
Takahama's deficit was two when Lee bogeyed the 15th. It stayed there when both bogeyed the 17th. On the final hole, Lee hit his second shot to the back of the green. With the luxury of being able to three-putt for the win, and to make absolutely sure a second putt would be uphill and not down, he rammed his birdie putt eight feet past the hole.
Regan Lee
Mark Takahama
Lee missed his par putt coming back but tapped in for the win.
"I actually hit the ball well," Lee said. "I felt like I wasn't rewarded for a lot of those shots. It's hard to judge the wind and when the gusts are going to stop. A lot of it is guessing and you could say I guessed wrong on a lot of those approach shots.
"It's hard to play in the wind, even on the putts. I was just trying to make pars coming in. Again, today wasn't a day where you wanted to chase birdies. Just hit the greens and two-putt. And two-putting was hard today."
Chun, in the final group with Lee, played well enough to have hope all day.
But his putting, which had kept him in contention Saturday, ultimately let him down.
"I hit it better today, I had more chances," said Chun, "but the putts didn't go in. I think I was trying a little harder to make birdie because Regan had the six-shot lead."
On the final hole, Chun nearly holed his approach shot, which would have forced a playoff. Instead, the ball settled 3 feet above the pin. His birdie putt nicked the lip and picked up speed, finally stopping 4 feet away. He made that to finish third alone, one ahead of former Manoa Cup champion Shane Hoshino, whose 70 was one of only three sub-par rounds.
Larry Stubblefield, the 2001 champion and this year's Senior champion, was fifth. Jay Shannon shot a 69 to move into a tie for sixth with Kevin Hayashi, who had a 77 despite injuring his thumb on the 10th hole and grimacing — sometimes yelling — with every full swing the rest of the round.
By the end, Hayashi was having trouble pulling his glove off.
Lee starts his second season on The Gateway Tour June 2. He plans to take off four or five weeks to come home for the birth of his first child in August.
SHORT PUTTS: Parker McLachlin (74-295) won low amateur honors by two shots over Brandan Kop and four over Mark Chun, who both shot 79. ... Larry Stubblefield was one of six seniors in the Top 31 overall. ... When Stubblefield won two years ago he was the only player under par. In 2000, no one was. Last year, with hardly any wind, a dozen shot par or better including Kop, the low amateur. Regan Lee's winning score was 16-under par. ... David Hamada (80-312) won A Flight and Don Miyashita (82-326) B Flight. ... Lee is only the third golfer to defend a Mid-Pacific Open title. Lance Suzuki did it three times. Guinea Kop — Lee's late grandfather — won from 1951-54, when it was called the Campos Cup. The tournament started as an amateur event — the Lanikai Cup — in 1950.
