Jimmy Walker of the USA produced a superb final round of 63 to win the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club and move to first place on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings.
Walker came through on a tense final day when a number of players had a chance to take the victory. Walker made his move with three straight birdies from the 15th hole to pull clear of the pack. A par at the closing hole meant the 34-year-old had a nervous wait to see if those following could match his 72-hole total of 17-under-par.
Chris Kirk had a chance to do it, with a chip for eagle on the last. His effort narrowly missed and he had to make do with a birdie and solo second place.
"I feel like I hit the ball well enough to win this week, but it doesn't always work out that way," Kirk said.
Walker won for the second time in the wrap-around 2013-14 PGA Tour season. He claimed victory in the opening event - the Frys.com Open last October. He has moved to 30th place on the Official World Golf Ranking and first on the US Ryder Cup points list.
"I've always felt like I belonged, and you need affirmation every now and then," he said. "The other win was like, `Yeah, OK, I can do it.' I did it, and I was supposed to be able to do it. Everybody told me I was supposed to do it, and I finally did it. And then it's, `Well, are you going to be the guy that won that you never hear from again?' It's nice to get it done and do it again today."
It was a crazy final day in Honolulu with no less than 18 players finishing within seven shots of Walker. Jerry Kelly closed with a 65 to finish alone in third, one ahead of Harris English in fourth.
2013 Masters champion Adam Scott raced to the turn in 30 and looked to have a chance, but he couldn't keep it going on the back nine and came home in 36 to finish in a log-jam for eighth place with 11 other players.
Sony Open in Hawaii Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii Jan 9-12, purse $5,600,000, par 70
1 Jimmy Walker (USA) 66 67 67 63 263 $1,008,000 2 Chris Kirk (USA) 64 69 65 66 264 $604,800 3 Jerry Kelly (USA) 67 67 66 65 265 $380,800 4 Harris English (USA) 66 66 67 67 266 $268,800 5 Marc Leishman (Aus) 67 64 71 65 267 $224,000 6 Brian Stuard (USA) 65 65 71 67 268 $201,600 7 Jeff Overton (USA) 68 68 65 68 269 $187,600 T8 Charles Howell III (USA) 71 67 66 66 270 $119,000 T8 Adam Scott (Aus) 67 66 71 66 270 $119,000 T8 Matt Kuchar (USA) 68 68 68 66 270 $119,000 T8 Kevin Na (USA) 70 67 67 66 270 $119,000 T8 Matt Every (USA) 69 65 69 67 270 $119,000 T8 Hudson Swafford (USA) 70 64 69 67 270 $119,000 T8 Zach Johnson (USA) 68 67 66 69 270 $119,000 T8 Hideto Tanihara (Jap) 66 65 70 69 270 $119,000 T8 Retief Goosen (RSA) 66 69 66 69 270 $119,000 T8 Pat Perez (USA) 68 67 66 69 270 $119,000 T8 Will Wilcox (USA) 69 66 64 71 270 $119,000 T8 Ryan Palmer (USA) 65 70 67 68 270 $119,000
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
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