Hilo’s Kevin Hayashi edged Mitsuhiro Tateyama with a par on the fourth hole of a playoff to claim the final spot in the Sony Open in Hawaii today at Turtle Bay’s Palmer Course.
Hayashi and Tateyama finished the qualifying round at 4-under-par 68, tied for the fourth and final berth. Hayashi rolled in a par putt after Tateyama settled for bogey on the par-3 fourth hole to earn a spot in the Sony Open field for the eight time.
John Merrick shot a 6-under 66 to lead the qualifier. Doug Labelle and Tony Finau finished another stroke back to secure berths in the tournament which opens Thursday.
Among those who missed out on qualifying were Tadd Fujikawa (71) and Alex Ching (72). Parker McLachlin did not turn in a scorecard and was disqualified.