KAHUKU, Oahu --- Kirk Nelson of Kihei won the senior title at the Hawaii State Open on Sunday, closing with a 2-over-par 74 for a 10-under total of 206 and two-shot win over Dave Eichelberger.
Nelson, a Makena Golf Course professional, began the day with an eight-shot lead over Lance Taketa of Hilo, who finished third.
''For me, it's very strange, because I'm not that good,'' Nelson said. ''I had a nice lead, but I just played one shot at a time.''
Article Photos
TURTLE BAY RESORT photo
Kirk Nelson walks along the Arnold Palmer Course on Sunday during the final round of the Hawaii State Open, in which he carded a 2-over-par 74.
Nelson, who turned 50 last week, opened with back-to-back bogeys, but birdied the third hole at Turtle Bay Resort's Arnold Palmer Course.
''After an eight-shot lead, your mindset, I don't care who you are, can get to be, 'I can't go out here and shoot 80.' Then, when I got started today, I thought, 'Oh Lord, here comes an 80.' I was able to hit some great shots after that, though.''
Eichelberger, winner of four PGA Tour events and six on the Champions Tour, including the U.S. Senior Open in 1999, closed with a 67. Taketa (71) finished at 211.
Fact Box
HAWAII STATE OPEN
Sunday's Final Round
At Turtle Bay Resort
Men's Open
At George Fazio Course
Jesse Mueller: 66-67-64---197 (-19)
Dean Wilson: 69-69-66---204 (-12)
Samuel Cyr: 70-71-66---207 (-9)
Michael Feuerstein: 71-70-66---207 (-9)
David Fink-a : 69-71-67---207 (-9)
Tadd Fujikawa: 71-70-68---209 (-7)
Sean Maekawa-a : 69-70-71---210 (-6)
Tom Eubank: 75-70-66---211 (-5)
Tyler Brewington: 75-68-68---211 (-5)
Jonathan Ota-a : 75-71-66---212 (-4)
Jarett Hamamoto: 73-69-70---212 (-4)
Kevin Hayashi: 68-75-69---212 (-4)
Steve Watanabe Jr: 67-70-75---212 (-4)
Eric Dugas: 73-71-69---213 (-3)
David Havens: 66-76-71---213 (-3)
Andrew Feldmann: 73-77-64---214 (-2)
Tony Finau: 70-70-74---214 (-2)
Aaron Kunitomo-a : 72-74-69---215 (-1)
Ron Castillo Jr.: 73-71-71---215 (-1)
Bradley Shigezawa-a : 72-72-71---215 (-1)
David Ishii: 74-74-67---215 (-1)
Jim Seki: 80-66-70---216 (E )
Javi Sanchez: 74-70-72---216 (E )
Regan Lee: 72-73-72---217 (+1)
Spencer Shishido-a : 68-76-73---217 (+1)
Zady Ari-a : 75-72-70---217 (+1)
Beau Yokomoto: 74-70-73---217 (+1)
Steve Zane-a : 72-70-75---217 (+1)
Alex Chiarella-a : 74-76-67---217 (+1)
Nick Mason: 79-66-73---218 (+2)
John Rudolph: 77-70-71---218 (+2)
David Saka-a : 76-71-71---218 (+2)
Charlie Holland-a : 69-78-72---219 (+3)
Travis Toyama: 76-72-71---219 (+3)
Kevin Shimomura: 80-71-68---219 (+3)
Garrett Okamura: 72-75-73---220 (+4)
Johnathan Galarita: 73-76-72---221 (+5)
Brandan Kop-a : 77-74-70---221 (+5)
Ed Tischler: 77-75-69---221 (+5)
Katie Futcher: 74-73-75---222 (+6)
John Hearn: 73-78-71---222 (+6)
Brett Komoto-a : 71-76-76---223 (+7)
Alika Bell-a : 77-73-73---223 (+7)
Ryan Acosta: 73-77-75---225 (+9)
Jerrel Grow: 72-78-75---225 (+9)
Bradley Hatfield-a : 76-76-74---226 (+10)
Tetsuya Murakami: 73-74-82---229 (+13)
Timothy Galvan-a : 78-74-80---232 (+16)
_______________
Senior Division
At Arnold Palmer Course
Kirk Nelson: 68-64-74---206 (-10)
Dave Eichelberger: 70-71-67---208 (-8)
Lance Taketa: 71-69-71---211 (-5)
Stan Souza: 71-70-71---212 (-4)
Eric Sonnenberg-a : 74-67-74---215 (-1)
Daniel Nishimoto: 70-72-76---218 (+2)
Craig Sasada: 69-74-75---218 (+2)
Casey Nakama: 74-72-75---221 (+5)
Glenn Tamagawa: 69-72-80---221 (+5)
Mark Shimamura: 70-74-79---223 (+7)
Phil Anamizu-a : 75-69-79---223 (+7)
Rodney Acia: 74-73-77---224 (+8)
Paul Kimura-a : 70-78-76---224 (+8)
Dean Prince: 75-71-78---224 (+8)
Lance Suzuki: 76-70-78---224 (+8)
David Hamada-a : 73-77-75---225 (+9)
Wade Nishimoto: 73-74-80---227 (+11)
Doug Williams-a : 79-68-82---229 (+13)
Don Wilburn: 77-73-84---234 (+18)
_______________
Women's Open
At Arnold Palmer Course
Katie Kempter: 75-71-74---220 (+4)
Xyra Suyetsugu: 74-74-72---220 (+4)
Cyd Okino-a : 70-74-76---220 (+4)
Kelli Oride-a : 71-75-78---224 (+8)
Mari Chun: 77-76-73---226 (+10)
Kacie Komoto-a : 74-77-75---226 (+10)
Mariel Galdiano-a : 79-74-74---227 (+11)
Jinmi Kim-a : 75-76-76---227 (+11)
Nicole Sakamoto-a : 75-77-76---228 (+12)
Selina Jung-a : 76-77-77---230 (+14)
_______________
Men's A Flight
At Arnold Palmer Course
Justin Kurihara-a : 73-72-75---220 (+4)
John Iyoki-a : 77-73-78---228 (+12)
Pono Tokioka-a : 78-75-76---229 (+13)
Philip Delisi-a : 75-76-79---230 (+14)
Kevin Teruya-a : 78-78-77---233 (+17)
Aaron Tom-a : 81-75-77---233 (+17)
Clayton Nishimoto-a : 77-77-80---234 (+18)
Steve Stock-a : 77-75-85---237 (+21)
Marc Casperino-a : 76-80-85---241 (+25)
_______________
Women's A Flight
At Arnold Palmer Course
Iris Kawada-a : 81-85-88---254 (+38)
Mira Jang-a : 90-77-89---256 (+40)
Sara Ann Ishii-a : 86-83-89---258 (+42)
In the open field, Sam Cyr, a 2005 graduate of King Kekaulike High School, finished tied for third with a 207 total after a final-round 66 at the George Fazio Course.
Jesse Mueller (64) of Arizona, this year's Pearl Open winner, won with a 197, finishing seven shots ahead of Castle graduate Dean Wilson (66), winner of The International on the PGA Tour in 2006.
Cyr, a two-time NAIA champion at Point Loma Nazarene, tied with California's Michael Feuerstein (66) and Oahu's David Fink (67). Moanalua graduate Tadd Fujikawa (68), who at age 15 in 2006 became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Open, finished at 209.
David Havens of Lahaina, who had a share of the first-round lead, closed with a 71 to finish at 213. Aaron Kunitomo (69), a Kamehameha Maui student, finished at 215, Kula's Steve Zane (75) and Seabury Hall student Alex Chiarella (67) at 217, Lahaina's Kevin Shimomura (68) at 219, Wailuku's Garrett Okamura (73) at 220 and Lahaina's Johnathan Galarita (72) at 221.
Mark Shimamura of Kula closed with a 79 for a 223 total that tied him for 10th in the senior division, and Lahaina's Dean Prince (78) finished at 224.
