LANIKAI — A year from graduation and a few weeks after the big WAC one that got away, Xyra Suyetsugu found reason to celebrate yesterday.

The University of Hawai'i senior, who will graduate next May in Family Resources, won her second straight Hawai'i women's major when she overtook two-time defending champion Kristina Merkle to win the Jennie K. Wilson Invitational. It was a shootout good to the last putt at Mid-Pacific Country Club.

Merkle had a 4-footer for birdie to tie and force a playoff on the final hole. She made something similar 11 days ago to win the state high school championship. This time she missed.

"Everything was pretty good this week," Merkle said. "The only bad thing was my putting. It wasn't that good today.

"When you play this game it takes everything to win. Xyra did everything well."

The champion admitted to getting help, from teammates/caddies Lisa Kajihara and Corie Hou. Hou, the funny and focused sophomore from Australia, fired her up, made her laugh and kept her in the moment the final two days.

"She was listening to me, thinking nothing about the shots she'd already hit," Hou said. "Her mindset was at the time, where she was at right now. I wouldn't let her look at the leaderboard until after the turn. She tried to sneak a peek and I told her, 'If you do I'll have to slap you.' "

After Suyetsugu tapped in for par on the final hole, and waited for Merkle's crucial putt, Hou finally allowed her to look at the board. Suyetsugu couldn't, pleading with Hou to "just tell me what's happening." When she found out, "I was pretty shaky."

"I had no idea if she would make it because we were both struggling out there," said Suyetsugu, a Western Athletic Conference first-team selection crucial to the Rainbow Wahine runs that fell just short at the last two WAC Championships. "I know she lipped out a few today. It was kind of iffy."

Suyetsugu and Merkle separated themselves Saturday with a sizzling front nine. Suyetsugu's five straight birdies put her in contention and Merkle's four kept her in the lead she had seemingly held three years; she won her first title by five shots and last year's by 13.

Yesterday, Suyetsugu's tenacity and talent on the back nine brought her another win at Mid-Pac, where she captured state stroke play last summer. The Roosevelt graduate closed with a 1-over-par 73, playing her final 11 holes in 1-under. It was the low round on the final day, matched only by Kalani senior Nicole Sakamoto, who bolted into third ahead of first-round leader Anna Jang, a Punahou junior.

Suyetsugu was the only golfer to break par, finishing at 215, a shot ahead of Merkle who closed with 75. The winning total was four off Amanda Wilson's tournament record, set three years ago, and the fifth-best score (in relation to par) in the 58-year history of Jennie K.

Merkle, 16, was trying to become only the second in history to three-peat. Now the focus will be on Suyetsugu, as she attempts to win three straight majors. "This feels a little different (from stroke play)," she said. "This tournament seems a bit bigger."

After a three-day chase, Suyetsugu finally caught Merkle at 1-under with a short birdie putt on the often-unlucky 13th hole. Merkle bogeyed the next two when she hit errant drives, while Suyetsugu converted three-foot par putts.

Merkle was in danger of falling into a deeper deficit when she punched her second shot under yet more trees on the par-5 16th and the ball rolled near the 17th tee. Suyetsugu held the green with her second shot, but was opposite the pin.

Merkle wasn't about to lose her chance at history without a fight. She hit a soft pitch that rolled to three feet of the pin. Suyetsugu's aggressive first putt left her 8 feet coming back for birdie, which she missed.

"She was hitting a few putts short today," Hou said with a shrug, "so I told her I'd rather you three-putt from the back of the hole than hitting it short on your first putt."

Merkle made her birdie, giving it the same clenched fist Moanalua High School classmate Tadd Fujikawa made famous last year. She flashed the fist again when she drained a 4-footer for par on the next hole that kept her just a shot shy.

But, after a brilliant approach on the final hole, Merkle's head dropped in anguish when she missed the last 4-footer.

NOTES

Three sets of mother-daughters played — Anna Jang and her mother Mira, Bobbi and Carolyn Arakawa and Serena and Hisako Obara.