Our Morgan Pressel.

Say what?

Our Morgan Pressel.

Boy, that sure takes some getting use to, doesn't it? Especially considering her past history with Our Michelle Wie.

But, there it is, Morgan Pressel's name at the top, in bold print, which we like to do in our sports-agate summaries to identify anyone with local ties.

Gary Planos, Kapalua's vice president of golf operations, couldn't have scripted a better ending to the inaugural Kapalua LPGA Classic on Sunday. He signs Pressel to represent the Maui resort on the LPGA Tour and she wins the first LPGA event there with a birdie putt on the final hole for her first victory in 43 starts and only the second since she became the youngest to win a major when she captured the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship at 18.

So, perhaps, it's more appropriate for Planos to say, Our Morgan Pressel.

"It was as nice an ending as we could expect," Planos said. "It was the ultimate finish for us. To have her in the last group and compete all the way through the last hole. And you always hope your event comes down to the last putt. But it's extremely special when it's your friend and your touring pro."

Pressel sank an 18-footer for birdie at the par-5 finishing hole at the Bay Course to win with a final-round 69 for a 280 total, one stroke better than Suzann Pettersen, who was also second in Pressel's only other LPGA victory.

Pressel was caught up with emotions after her victory before her Kapalua 'ohana.

"It's exciting. I'm excited, first to be a part of the Kapalua family, and it was a dream that we had to bring the LPGA Tour here," Pressel said. "To be here and to win on top of it is just that much more exciting because I have my Kapalua family, as I'm now calling them. They just cheered me on all week."

She did it despite fulfilling obligations as the tournament host, attending numerous events, functions and dinners. Also with having the added pressure of trying to do well at the resort she represents and playing the first two rounds with Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam, the world's best two women players.

That Pressel overcame it all to win made it a perfect ending for her and Kapalua.

Pressel is every bit the 20-year-old. She can be outspokenly candid, as Wie can tell you. She wears her emotions on her Ralph Lauren sleeves and easily breaks into tears, even when she's deliriously happy.

But there are added qualities to her that Planos finds endearing: she likes challenges and has a willingness to do whatever she can to help Kapalua on the tour by talking about the new event to her peers and everybody else who would listen, especially sponsors.

The night before her victory, Pressel insisted on going to a dinner that Planos hosted for several potential title sponsors.

"She volunteered to help," Planos said. During the course of dinner, Planos told her not to worry where she finished. But, in the back of his mind, he thought, wouldn't it be great if she won?

Instead, he told her a story about another good friend of Kapalua's, Davis Love III, who is one of Pressel's favorite golfers. In 1997, Love was playing in the final Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International before it gave way to the Mercedes-Benz Championship, which opens the PGA Tour season.

Davis approached Planos at a pre-tournament party and asked, "What do you need for me to do this week?"

"I looked at him and said, just one thing," Planos told him. "I didn't say what it was, but I meant winning. To kind of challenge him back and he did. He won."

Fast forward to Sunday as Planos watched Pressel's winning putt at the 18th green.

"When Morgan got off the green, she asked me, 'Did I do what Davis did?' It was neat for her to remember that," Planos said. Now, she's not only Kapalua's Morgan Pressel, but ours as well by saying all the right things.

"You know, it's a great place to win," Pressel said about Kapalua. "I always enjoy my time here. I wish I could spend more time. I'm looking forward to coming back in February for some vacation time."

It was during a vacation at Kapalua last February that Pressel met Planos and wrote him a thank you note, adding, "if you are ever thinking of having an LPGA touring pro, would you please consider me?"

Planos remembered that note and when the Kapalua Resort decided to host an LPGA Tour event, he knew Pressel would be a great choice and signed her last July.

"Once we decided to have the LPGA event, she was the logical choice. She made a positive impression across the board when we first met her," Planos said. "It's pretty amazing how first impressions work out, her to us and us to her. Here it ends up, her winning the first Kapalua LPGA Classic as our representative."

What a beginning it turned out to be for the inaugural Kapalua LPGA Classic. And the start of many more, according to Planos, who said that Kapalua is committed to the event through 2012.

"We really enjoyed the positive energy that the LPGA brought to our resort. With the world being tough all around, business wise, this was a nice jolt of energy the entire week. We enjoyed running the event and look forward to more in the future," he said.

Pressel's contract with Kapalua is through 2009, but you just know she'll re-up if given the opportunity.

As Pressel told The Advertiser's Ann Miller during the SBS Open at Turtle Bay earlier this year, she's enamored of the "whole way Kapalua is set on a mountain so you can see the ocean from every hole" and that she first knew of the resort because of the Mercedes-Benz Championship and that "cool" butterfly logo.

Like I said, she's saying all the right things these days. Worthy to be called one of ours.