WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Pacific University's Keita Okada played a steady round of even-par golf to win the individual championship and lead HPU to a third place finish at the 2021 PacWest Conference Championships at the Waikoloa Beach Golf Course.
 
Okada, a freshman from Tokyo, Japan/Bradenton, Fla. IMG Academy, won the Sharks first-ever PacWest golf championship by touring the par 70, 6,566-yard Beach Course in even-par 70 to win the title at 3-under-par 207, setting the HPU records for lowest 54-hole score and lowest 54-hole score to par.
 
Okada survived a late run by Julius Kreutzer of Academy of Art who fired a 1-under 69 in the final round to finish a stroke back at 2-under 208. HPU junior Ryan Torres of San Jose, Calif./Evergreen Valley, tied for third with Matthew Watkins of ART U at even-par 210, after both carded their third straight even-par round.
 
Okada and Torres led the Sharks to a final day 287, matching their best round of the tournament, to place third at 867. It was the best finish for the Sharks at the PacWest, and set a new school record for a three-round tournament. Academy of Art made a late charge to post a 285, the best round of the tournament, to beat host Hawai'i Hilo. The Vulcans posted a 288 for a final of 863. HPU bettered fourth place Holy Names by two strokes at 869 after putting up a 294 on Wednesday. Dominican was fifth at 898, with Chaminade finishing at 949.
 
Junior Ray Kim of Aiea, Hawai'i/Moanalua fired a 1-over 71 for the Sharks to finish 11th at 9-over 219. Sophomore Keli'i Kamelamela-Dudoit of Ho'olehua, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama carded a final round 6-over 76 for a 233, while senior Tom Purcell of Liverpool, England/St. Mary's, added an 8-over 78 for his best collegiate tournament finish of 234.
 
Okada looked like he was running away with the title early. Starting again at No. 11, Okada posted three birdies on the back side to make the turn at 3-under for the day and 6-under for the tournament. But the freshman ran into trouble on the par 5 No. 4, making a bogey 6, then following it with a double-bogey 6 on the par 4 fifth. He gained a stroke back with a birdie 4 on the par 5 seventh hole, but gave it back with a bogey 4 on the par 3 eighth. He finished with two straight pars to sit even for the day.
 
Torres opened with birdies on the par 4 11 and 13th, but bogeyed at the par 4 15th and par 3 17th to drop back to even. Then he played par golf the rest of the day to finish even for the day and the tournament.
 
It looked like HPU might have a 1-2 finish, as they were in the spot in the clubhouse some 90 minutes before Kreutzer made his charge with birdies on two of his last four holes, including the final No. 10, to go to 1-under for the day with the only sub-par round, and 2-under for second.
 
The Sharks now wait for Friday's announcement of the NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament field. HPU has been on the committee's radar the last few weeks for a possible team bid, or individual selections. The selection show is on NCAA.com on Friday at 2 p.m. HST (8 p.m. EDT).