[GOLF]

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Ryan Koshi won the OCC Invitational yesterday at Oahu Country Club, the site of his 2000 Manoa Cup victory.

Koshi claims first
OCC Invitational

The 23-year-old holds off Rego
with 7 birdies in the final round

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By Grady Timmons
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Twenty-year-old Todd Rego knew what he had to do to overtake Ryan Koshi in yesterday's final round of the Oahu Country Club Invitational. He had to make birdies.

Well, the Nevada-Las Vegas junior made seven of them, but it wasn't enough to catch Koshi, a 23-year-old porter from Maui, who matched that birdie take to capture his first OCC Invitational title.

Koshi's seven birdies were good enough for a 68 and a winning total of 4-under-par 209. That was three shots better than Rego, who finished at 69-212. Del-Marc Fujita placed third at 72-216.

"I made seven birdies the entire tournament," said Fujita, who played in the final group with Koshi and Rego. "These guys made seven each in one round. It was phenomenal."

On a course set up to give golfers a bad case of the yips, it was phenomenal. During the 39th OCC Invitational, putting was even more of a factor than usual. The OCC layout is only 6,000 yards long, so greenskeeper Curtis Kono double-cut and rolled the greens and stuck the pins on ridges and knolls to give the layout real teeth.

Golfers who hit their approach shot above the hole or on the wrong side of the pin paid a price, watching in exasperation as their putts routinely trickled 4 and 5 feet past the cup -- and sometimes off the green. The conditions for putting were especially brutal during Friday's second round, when no one in the field broke par and the average score was 77.

"I was just trying to avoid making mistakes," said Koshi, who won the 2000 Manoa Cup at OCC.

"I was expecting the greens to be fast, so I always tried to make sure not to miss the green on the wrong side. But I putted well. ... I made just about everything within 6 feet."

Play began on the back nine yesterday with Koshi holding a two-shot advantage over Rego. He quickly increased that advantage to five when he made birdie from the trees at 10 and rolled in a 40-footer for a second birdie at the par-3 11th.

Rego cut the lead to three with birdies at 13 and 14, and was within one after Koshi rifled a drive out of bounds at 15. But the Maui golfer promptly rebounded, closing with birdies at 16, 17 and 18 to up his lead to four shots.

Both golfers birdied the par-5 second hole, and then Rego went on a tear, rolling in birdie putts on the fourth, fifth and sixth holes.

"He was catching up real fast," said Koshi, who also birdied the sixth to maintain a two-shot advantage.

At the par-3 seventh, Rego stuck his iron shot 10 feet below the hole and was in position for his fourth straight birdie. Koshi, meanwhile, left his approach short of the green and then pitched 10 feet past the cup.

"When I got up to the seventh green, I was thinking, 'This is my chance,' " Rego said. "And after Ryan pitched long, I was feeling even better."

But Rego missed his very makeable uphill birdie putt, while Koshi made his treacherous downhill putt for par. "That was the key hole," said Koshi, more than a little relieved.

At the par-4 eighth, Rego had another chance to gain ground when Koshi bunkered his approach. But Rego, who was on the green in two, three-putted from 40 feet, while Koshi got up and down for par out of the sand.

Holding a three-shot lead going to the final hole, OCC's 239-yard, par-3 ninth, Koshi drilled a long iron that covered the flag and stopped 15 feet above the cup. His ensuing putt nearly rolled off the green and he wound up three-putting for bogey.

Remarkably, it was his only three-putt of the week.