Japan Pro Akinori Tani Secures 32nd HPO Title on 53rd Hole!

Valentine’s Day proved to be charmed for Akinori Tani,
a 35-year-old pro from Hyogo, Japan. Tani candidly admitted that he was trying to lay up with his second shot from about 200 yards out on the par-5
17th hole, when he caught a flyer out of the left rough with a 9 iron and ended up about 7 feet from the hole. He drained the eagle putt to leapfrog over current leader Nick Mason, who parred the hole.

It is safe to assume that 17 was the key hole for Tani’s victory as Mason the 27-year-old alum of Leilehua High School led most of the day in fact he had a 1 shot lead (11-under par while Tani was 10-under for the tournament) going into 17. Further more as many of you know who play Pearl CC, 17 is a short par 5 and each year it always plays as the easiest hole on the course and thus many Pearl Open titles have been won or lost due to this amazing hole. Most players expect to make birdie or better on this hole while on the tee but many have been bitten by it as well walking off with par or worse scratching their head wondering what went wrong?

Tani shot a closing round 67 for a 12-under-par total of 204. Mason, who led by as many as three-shots earlier in the day, shot 69 to finish one stroke back of Tani. In a tight, seesaw struggle at times involving up to seven or eight players, Korean pro Hyung Sung Kim (70-65-71—206) took sole possession of third place.

After completing yesterday’s second round, Tani and his fiancé (shown above) ran off and got married at the Calvary by the Sea chapel in the afternoon. He said he thought about waiting for Valentine’s Day to tie the knot, but had a premonition that if he won, there would be an awards presentation and media interviews to contend with – all of which proved to be true.