CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Mari Chun reacted after missing a putt on the second playoff hole.

Chun finally shakes off
Kaneko in playoff

The Kamehameha senior wins
the Jennie K. tournament

When Kamehameha Schools senior Mari Chun found herself in a playoff for the Jennie K. Wilson Invitational yesterday at the Mid-Pacific Country Club, it seemed like she had gained sudden life, not sudden death.

During a tortuous final 18, Chun lost a seven-shot lead.

At the final hole she missed a 15-foot putt for birdie that looked to be her last chance at catching 15-year-old Ayaka Kaneko, who was even par for the day and putting brilliantly. Kaneko was on the green in two, 14 feet from victory. All she needed to do was two-putt.

Instead, the eighth-grader from Sacred Hearts Academy did the unthinkable -- she three-putted, giving Chun new life. Chun took full advantage of the gift, claiming the prestigious Jennie K. title on the second playoff hole when Kaneko overshot the green and failed to get up and down.

"Never give up," said Chun, who struggled mightily with her putting en route to a final round of 80--219, 3 over par for the event. "This is a tournament I wanted to win. I wanted it so badly. I wasn't willing to give up and say, 'Okay, she won.' There's always a possibility."

At the start of the day, the possibility that Chun would be challenged for the title seemed remote. The Kamehameha senior, who will attend Stanford University next year, was coming off rounds of 67-72 and seemed untouchable.

But with strong winds raking the Mid-Pacific course, the greens were hard and fast, making them difficult to both hold and putt. Chun felt the impact immediately, overshooting the first green and three-putting for a double bogey. She three-putted again for bogey at 8, and four-putted from the fringe for a second double bogey at nine.

At the long par-5 12th, she three-putted again. At that point, she was only a shot up on Kaneko, who was even par for the round.

"I struggled with my putting all day," Chun said. "Today, the greens were changing, they were quicker, and I just couldn't get the feel."

At the 15th, Chun made a nice scrambling par to increase her lead to two. But at the short par-5 16th, she again took four to get down from the front of the green, this time incurring a bogey.

Kaneko, meanwhile, laced a beautiful 3-iron approach to within 7 feet and drained the putt for an eagle. The three-shot swing vaulted her into a one-shot lead, which she maintained when she made a clutch 15-foot downhill putt for par at 17.

At 18, both golfers hit marvelous approach shots onto the green, Chun keeping her shot below the hole, Kaneko stopping above it.

"I was surprised when Ayaka three-putted at 18, because her putting was so solid the entire day," said Chun. "She was just seeing it."

At 18, however, Kaneko was feeling the pressure.

"My hands were shaking so much," she said, explaining why she stroked her first putt 5 feet past the hole and missed the next one coming back.

The blunder clearly shifted the momentum, and Kaneko was never able to regain it.

"During the playoff, I just couldn't forget what happened at 18," she said.