Kaua'i's Casey Watabu was the lone Hawai'i golfer remaining after yesterday's first round of the U.S. Men's Amateur Public Links Golf Championship at Bremerton, Wash.

Watabu, from Kapa'a, went 22 holes to defeat Raymond Sheedy, of Keymar, Md. at the Gold Mountain Golf Club course.

Watabu was 1-down, but birdied the par-4 18th to force sudden death. After both parred the first three holes, Watabu won the match with a par at the par-4 fourth.

Watabu plays Jesse Schutte, of Florence, Ore., in today's second round. Schutte advanced with a 2-and-1 victory over defending champion Clay Ogden, of West Point, Utah.

"I don't know what happened. I just made some putts," said Schutte, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate. "It was a great match all day."

Ogden, a senior-to-be at BYU, beat Hawai'i's Michelle Wie in last year's quarterfinals en route to the title.

Hawai'i's two other golfers, Tadd Fujikawa of Honolulu and Sean Maekawa of Paauilu on the Big Island, lost their first-round matches.

Fujikawa lost to Kevin Foley, of Somerville, N.J., 3 and 2, while Maekawa fell to Matt Harmon, of Grand Rapids, Mich., 3 and 2.

Watabu took a quick 1-up lead over Sheedy with a par at the first hole, but Sheedy evened the match with a birdie on the second hole and went 1-up with a birdie at the par-3 fifth.

A birdie at the par-5 sixth and a par at the par-4 seventh gave Watabu a 1-up lead

Sheedy tied the match with a par at the par-5 ninth and took a 1-up lead with another par at the par-5 14th. The match stayed that way until Watabu birdied the 18th.

Fujikawa never led in his match with Foley. After both parred the first two holes, Foley won the par-4 third with a bogey and the par-4 fourth with a par to make the turn 2-up. He won the 10th and 11th to go 4-up and closed out the match on the 16th when he matched Fujikawa's par.

Maekawa was 2-down after nine. He won the 10th, lost the 11th and was 1-down after winning the 14th. But Harmon won the next two holes with a birdie and par to end it.