KAHUKU — With all the talk about women playing against the men in the Turtle Bay Resort Hawai'i State Open, the thought never occurred to Katie Kempter.

"I didn't think we could," said Kempter, who came here to get in some golf, visit friends and celebrate the earning of her 2010 playing card after finishing tied for second in the LPGA Q-School earlier this month.

Cyd Okino probably wished Kempter had taken on the men.

Kempter sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to beat Okino, who was trying to win the women's title for an unprecedented fourth year in a row, and Xyra Suyetsugu after they had finished in a tie with a 54-hole score of 220 yesterday at the Palmer Course.

The playoff venue was changed to the Fazio Course's par-4 ninth hole fronting the clubhouse to accommodate the fans.

All three parred the first time around after missing the green in regulation after they all pulled their tee shots at the dog-leg hole. Kempter got on in regulation on the second go-around, while Okino and Suyetsugu missed getting on in two again. They wedged closer to the pin but it was over when Kempter dropped her birdie putt.

She had a putt of similar length for birdie at the par-5 final hole at the Palmer Course that would have ended it sooner. "I played not enough break and kind of ran it through," Kempter said about the first birdie try. "But this one felt good all the way and I had a good feeling over it."

Okino, who had a two-stroke lead over Kempter and Kelli Oride going into the final round, shot a 76. But she birdied the last regulation hole to make it to the three-way playoff. But three seemed like an unlucky number for Okino yesterday. Her winning streak ended at three, losing in a three-way playoff that was as largely a result of bogeying three holes in a row on both nines — 13, 14, 15 in playing the back first, and 6, 7 and 8 after the turn.

She also had three bogeys in a row on her scorecard in the first round. "The wrong kind of three in a row. Bogeys must love me," Okino said. "Eh, cannot help. Glad I made that birdie to get into the playoff."

For Kempter, not playing against the men was a right decision. "Yeah, I guess so, and a win is a win. But it's always good to get kind of in the heat of the battle and nervous energy, whatever," said the Albuquerque, N.M., native and 2009 University of Denver graduate.

Kempter had nothing but praise for Okino, a Punahou School junior who has already committed to play for the University of Washington.

"She's a hell of a player and she's going to be a great college golfer," Kempter said. "It's fun to play with some good amateurs. I was an amateur six months ago, so there's not a big difference between the great amateurs and the good pros. It's good to see golf going that way.

"I would like to come back. I don't know why I wouldn't. Not when you can come back to a place like this, have a good time and be with some friends. You can't put a price on it," said Kempter, who had Britney Choy, a former Leilehua High School alum and now a senior on the New Mexico women's golf team, on her bag yesterday. "And it's nice to have your best friend on the bag with you."