Tyler Ota had checked off most of the boxes on his amateur golf goal chart before his 24th birthday.

The two-time Hawaii State Golf Association player of the year will be able take a Sharpie to another in January when he tees off in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Ota’s birdie-birdie finish gave him a one-shot victory in Monday’s Sony Open qualifier for the Governor’s Cup amateur team, earning him a return to Waialae Country Club for the PGA Tour’s first full-field event of 2018.

“I think this is on anyone’s to-do list, especially if you’re an amateur and make the Governor’s Cup team,” Ota said.

Ota secured the exemption reserved for a local amateur with a round of even-par 72; his 15-foot birdie putt on the closing hole pushed him past David Saka, who played in the 2011 Sony Open.

The exemption is unique to the Sony Open, with local players earning Governor’s Cup points over 14 amateur events. The top 12 earn a place on the Gov. John A. Burns Challenge Cup amateur team and a spot in the 18-hole Sony qualifier.

Ota, the 2015 Manoa Cup champion, topped this year’s standings by a 754-point margin to make his fifth straight Governor’s Cup team and won the Sony qualifier after placing in the top four each of the previous three years.

Ota finished two shots behind Brent Grant last year, closing a round of 75 with a bogey on the par-5 18th. He faced a similar scenario late in Monday’s round as he tried to claw back from a double-bogey on No. 13. He steadied himself with a 12-foot putt for par on No. 15 and set up an 8-footer for birdie on No. 17.

Sensing he needed another birdie on No. 18, Ota debated whether to trust a driver that hadn’t proven reliable most of the day or stay safe with a 3-iron.

“I hit it OB last year (and) with having that nervousness on 18 it was just, ‘step up, do what you feel is right and live with the consequences,’ ” Ota said.

He opted for the 3-iron off the tee and again from the fairway, the second finding a bunker fronting the green. After blasting out, Ota eased the tension of his birdie putt by envisioning a more familiar setting.

“Me and my caddie (Brian Pang) play this game whenever we practice, first to five makes,” Ota said, “and I was thinking, ‘just pretend this is the one to close him out.’ And sure enough it worked. As soon as I made it … I looked at him and I busted out laughing.”

Ota joins Makena Golf and Beach Club pro Eric Dugas as local entrants in the Sony Open field. Dugas earned a berth by winning the Aloha Section Stroke Play Championship in October.