LANIKAI — Katie Sisler's relentless parade of pars the first two days of the Hawai'i State Women's Golf Association amateur stroke play championship beat two remarkable rallies yesterday at Mid-Pacific Country Club. The UC Davis sophomore captured her first Hawai'i women's major after a near-miss at last year's Match Play Championship.

Sisler, 18, opened the year's second major with consecutive rounds of 1-over-par 73 in strong trade winds. The wind got wilder and the pins more precarious yesterday. Sisler closed with a 77, lost all of the three-shot advantage she took into the final day, but was just consistent enough to hold off hard-charging Hayley Young (76) and Miki Ueoka (73) by two shots.

Ueoka went all in after Tuesday's opening-round 81 and staged a spectacular rally the final two days. The three-time KIF champion, now in her second year at Santa Clara, had grown accustomed to big numbers after dealing with huge adversity in her family life soon after leaving for college.

"Yesterday (Wednesday's 71) was my first competitive round in the 70s since April," Ueoka said. "I went back to school too early and I wasn't playing great. I really couldn't concentrate. I thought this can't go on forever."

But it did, through the spring and into summer, until Wednesday. "After the 81," Ueoka said, "I just thought, 'This is not how it's going to be anymore.' "

Mind over matter, innate talent and a new visualization routine gave her the tournament's low round Wednesday. She also had the day's low score in the final round, beating the breeze with a 71 that was a few centimeters from the 60s.

Ueoka started the final day six back and cut the deficit in half at the turn as Sisler bogeyed three of the last four holes on the front nine. Young, a Mid-Pacific senior, birdied the first hole to pull within two of Sisler and had it to one at the turn. Sisler's lone birdie, at No. 12, gave her a two-shot cushion. But Young was on a tear. She birdied th 16th to become the only golfer to catch Sisler in three days.

Then disaster struck. Young avoided the usual trouble off the 17th tee and had a 125-yard approach shot to the green. She pushed it a little and the wind grabbed it and shoved it hard into the right bunker.

"It was a fried egg all the way," Sisler said. "A really bad lie."

With no way to stop the ball, Young's bunker shot rolled through the green and up to the cart path. Her fourth shot, for par, left her more than 20 feet from the hole and her first putt was six feet short. She missed that, took triple bogey, and lost any chance at her biggest win.

"I played against Katie at the ILH Championships a couple years ago and she beat me then, too," said Young, whose only regret yesterday was her approach into the bunker. "She is always so consistent."

The serene Sisler left her second shot short, but wedged the ball within six feet and sank that for par to take a three-shot lead into the final hole. Young hit a late, great approach shot, sticking the ball within 10 feet, but couldn't convert her third birdie and grab second alone.

Sisler helped UC Davis qualify for the 24-team NCAA Championship as a freshman. It was UCD's inaugural season as a Division I program, and only its third year overall. She is majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology and has thrived on her college experience, on and off the golf course. She also found inspiration this week from her run into the State Match Play final last summer.

"I have much more confidence now," Sisler said. "I know I can shoot low scores on longer golf courses. My long irons and woods have improved.

"It was hectic today. I was ahead by three but I was really nervous because Hayley is such a good player. I knew she could catch up quickly and she did. ... I felt so bad for her at 17. It helped me relax but it was hard to see."

Recent University of Hawai'i graduate Xyra Suyetsugu, attempting to win her third straight Hawai'i women's major, shot her best score of the week, closing with a 74 to share fifth with Woori Han. Kaili Britos took fourth, Jamie Nonaka seventh and 2006 champion Jaclyn Hilea eighth.

The Match Play Championship, the year's final major, is Aug. 13 to 15 at Oahu Country Club.