Mark Wilson wins Sony Open in Hawaii

Mark Wilson of the USA came through a gruelling 36-holes on Sunday to win the Sony Open in Hawaii by two strokes from fellow American Steve Marino and South Africa’s Tim Clark.

Mark Wilson
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Mark Wilson of the USA came through a gruelling 36-holes on Sunday to win the Sony Open in Hawaii by two strokes from fellow American Steve Marino and South Africa's Tim Clark.

Thursday was a washout at Waialae so the tournament officials, playing catch-up, decided to squeeze two full rounds into the last day. Going into Sunday, an amazing 56 players were within seven shots of the lead, meaning the eventual winner could come from anywhere in the field.

Wilson fired a solid third round of 65 to take a one-stroke advantage over Marino into the final 18. They had just six minutes between rounds before heading once again to the first tee.

Wilson was immovable through Sunday afternoon. He made birdies at the 4th and 9th and kept a bogey off his card. On the 17th, the 36-year-old looked to be in danger of dropping his first shot. His lead down to one shot over Tim Clark, he faced a testing 12-foot putt to save par. He settled over it, stroked the ball towards the cup and it dropped in the side.

With a birdie at the par-5 last, Wilson sealed the title, his third PGA Tour victory, and with it he earned a spot at the 2011 Masters.

"I get goose bumps thinking about it," he said. "I'm just thrilled to be the champion."

Closing with a superb 64, South Africa's Tim Clark hauled himself up the leaderboard to finish in a tie for second with Steve Marino.

"The back nine, I kind of got it going there with some iron shots. A few putts would have helped, but I'm very pleased." Said Clark who has moved up to 20th on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Sony Open in Hawaii Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii Jan 13-16, purse $5,500,000, par 70

1   Mark Wilson (USA)   65   67   65   67   264   $990,000 T2   Tim Clark (RSA)      68   68   66   64   266   $484,000 T2   Steve Marino (USA)   65   67   66   68   266   $484,000 4   Jimmy Walker (USA)   68   65   66   68   267   $264,000 T5   Matt Bettencourt (USA)   68   65   68   67   268   $209,000 T5   Matt Kuchar (USA)   65   68   66   69   268   $209,000 T7   Shigeki Maruyama (Jap) 65   65   70   69   269   $177,375 T7   Roland Thatcher (USA)   67   65   68   69   269   $177,375

Note: Player in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

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Equipment: Mizuno JPX800 driver launched Courses: Top 100 Rankings 2010 Opinion: Fergus Bisset

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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