WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Pacific University's Keita Okada fired a second round 2-under-par 68 to retain the individual lead and help the Sharks stay just five strokes behind the team leaders at the 2021 PacWest Conference Championships at the Waikoloa Beach Golf Course.
 
The Sharks posted a 293 team round to drop to fourth at 580. Still it's just five strokes behind the first place tie of Hawai'i Hilo and Holy Names who both recorded 289 in the second round for the lead at 575. Academy of Art tossed in the best round of the tournament with a 283 to move into third, one stroke behind the first place tie. Dominican is fifth at 602 and Chaminade is sixth with a 636.
 
Okada, a freshman from Tokyo, Japan/Bradenton, Fla. IMG Academy, had a bogey-free second round on the par 70, 6,566-yard Beach Course to hold the lead with a 36-hole total of 3-under 137. He's one stroke better than Holy Names' Hoshi Yadav who fired a 3-under 67 on Tuesday for a 2-under 138. Academy of Art's Julius Kreutzer is third after a 1-under 69 to sit at 1-under 139. HPU's Ryan Torres is tied for fourth with Matthew Watkins of Academy of Art who both are at even-par 140 after even-par 70s in the second.
 
Okada opened with a birdie 3 on the par 4 11th hole, the starting hole for the men in the tournament. He followed with par golf until the par 5 7th hole, where he collected his second birdie of the day. Okada parred the last three holes to finish the round on top of the leaderboard.
 
Torres, a junior from San Jose, Calif./Evergreen Valley, posted two birdies and two bogeys in his round of even-par. He birdied the par 4 16th hole to make the turn at 1-under, but it was the final seven holes that provided him both grief and excitement in the round. He bogeyed the par 5 fourth hole and the par 4 ninth hole to drop to 1-over, but rallied with a birdie on the final hole, the par 5 10th to balance the round.
 
Junior Ray Kim of Aiea, Hawai'i/Moanalua who was tied for the lead after the first round, suffered a 9-over 79 to drop to 14th after 36-holes at 8-over 148. Senior Tom Purcell of Liverpool, England/St. Mary's, had one of his best rounds with a 7-over 77 to total 156, while sophomore Keli'i Kamelamela-Dudoit of Ho'olehua, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama added a 78 for a 157 to round out the Sharks scoring.
 
The final 18-hole round of the championships is on Wednesday. Tee times are slated to start at 7:30 at the Waikoloa Beach Course.