MILILANI — Fittingly, Craig Uyehara, who could be the poster boy for Amatour Hawai'i, cleaned up yesterday at Mililani Golf Club. His sweep was three years in the making.

Uyehara captured the Amatour Tour Championship, presented by Tropic Fish and Vegetable, and clinched Amatour Player of the Year honors in the process. He shot a final round of even-par 72 for a weekend total of 2-under 142. That was three better than Alvin Okada (71-145).

Paul Kimura, one of the Amatour founders five years ago, shared third with reigning state high school champion Chan Kim. Kimura birdied his 16th and 17th (Nos. 7 and 8) to get within two of Uyehara going into his final hole, but double-bogeyed the par-5 ninth.

Kim's double bogey came a couple hours earlier, when he went out of bounds off the 18th tee. He still made the turn in 36 and was two back of Uyehara until the winner dropped the hammer with an all-but-flawless final nine.

It was sweet redemption for the 33-year-old buyer for his family's Coastal Construction company. Uyehara won the 1991 state high school title at Kaiser and has been one of Hawai'i's finest amateurs since.

He won two Amatour events two years ago, but came up second — 55 points short — to Earl Medeiros in Player of the Year points. A year ago, Chris Souza beat him out by 40 points. (First place is worth 250 points each week, with each succeeding place getting 10 fewer points. Tour championship points are doubled.)

Uyehara went into the final tournament of this year 79 points shy of leader Michael Sato and 25 behind runner-up Shannon Tanoue. The thought of coming close again never crossed Uyehara's mind. He was focused solely on winning at Mililani, convinced the rest would take care of itself.

He was right. Uyehara did not have a bogey until his 14th hole. He seized the lead at the turn when Kim fell back and first-round leader Devin Taga, an Amatour rookie, struggled. Uyehara was four up on the field by his 12th hole. With his game in cruise control, this one was over.

"Putting not too good," Uyehara grinned, "but I've been hitting the ball good."

The all-but-flawless part of Uyehara's golf the past few months has brought him the Hickam Invitational championship along with Amatour's Coral Creek title. Yesterday was just a continuation of his excellence, in sharp contrast to the last two tour championships, when Uyehara could not finish.

"It feels good now," he said. "It just takes practicing and playing, go to the range, play with friends on the weekend."

He is the type of golfer, along with many others in Hawai'i, that the Amatour was made for. Kimura, Garrett Omuro and Shawn Tanoue put it together because entry fees kept climbing, tournaments for amateurs kept dying and too many events played on weekdays.

The Amatour entry fee is $125, with a $2,000 purse and $500 in merchandise certificates (at the host site) to the winner. Every event is played on the weekend, with golfers announced on the first tee and a tournament atmosphere designed to prepare golfers for other events.

About 150 men have played each year. The top 24 point-getters after yesterday are exempt next year, while the rest return to qualifying.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.