Friday, August 10, 2001

[HAWAII GOLF]

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michelle Wie came from a stroke back after
two rounds to win the stroke play title.

Wie wins second
local major

Her even-par 72 in the
final round helps her beat out
the prep champion
by 2 strokes

---

Star-Bulletin staff

Michelle Wie continued her domination of local women's golf by holding off defending champion Rachel Kyono to capture the Hawaii State Women's Golf Association Stroke Play Championship yesterday at Mid-Pacific Country Club.

Wie trailed Kyono by one stroke entering the final round of the 54-hole event but pulled away with an even-par 72 to finish with a 4-over 220. Kyono, who took home the state prep golf championship this year on Maui, managed a 75 for a three-day total of 222.

Anna Umemura was another stroke back at 223. The University of Tennessee golfer overcame an opening 78 by going 1-over the next two days. Merynn Ito rounded out the top finishers by shooting a final-round 73 for a 54-hole total of 224.

"It feels really good to get this win," Wie said after taking the second of the three major local women's events. Earlier this year, she captured the Jennie K. Wilson Invitational, also played at Mid-Pac.

Umemura won the HSWGA Match Play Championship played last month. The 22-year-old remains the only golfer to win all three local women's majors in the same year, having done it in 1997.

"But it's still amazing what Michelle has been able to accomplish so soon," Umemura said. "She's really long off the tee. And she has a solid game around the greens."

Wie enjoys the tight Mid-Pac course. She easily won the Jennie K. title in the spring. Some would say Wie plays well wherever she goes. This summer, she made news by qualifying to play with the boys at the Manoa Cup. True, she was eliminated in the first round, but for the sixth-grader from Punahou Elementary, just qualifying was a moral victory.

She also spent part of the summer competing at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.

"Competing in those kind of major tournaments helps me," Wie said. "There's a lot of pressure to play well in those. I just try to go out and play my game. Getting this win was great for me. I'm happy with the way I played this week."

Kyono also played well before faltering somewhat on the back nine, clearing the way for Wie to take the lead. Had Umemura not shot a 6-over 78 on the first day, she might have been able to overtake Wie with her steady play the next two days.

"But that's why you play three rounds," Umemura said. "I just got off to a slow start and couldn't catch up. She deserves the win."