Ogilvy does it again at Kapalua
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2010 SBS Championship | Round Four | 11 Jan 2010
Geoff Ogilvy successfully defended his SBS Championship title by winning the restricted field event in Hawaii this morning.
Ogilvy started the day one shot behind the overnight leader Lucas Glover but as the leader and US Open Champion began to falter on the final day, Ogilvy made his move. A birdie at the 1st and 5th by the Australian were followed by a bogey at the 6th but when he birdied the 8th and the 9th Ogilvy made the turn at 19 under and had the lead.
Over and hour ahead on the golf course South African Rory Sabbatini was making a huge statement as he raced to 20 under through 15 holes to take the lead. Another birdie at the 17th and Sabbatini had birdied seven of his last nine holes and at 21 under he led as he headed to the 18th tee. Ogilvy responded with birdies of his own at the 14th and 15th to take the lead back from Sabbatini who had failed to record what would have turned out to be a crucial birdie at the final hole.
Ogilvy was able to consolidate his lead over the closing three holes despite he too not making birdie at the last and the Victorian once again completed a perfect start to a PGA Tour season.
Last year Ogilvy not only won this event but two months later he would win the Accenture Match play Championship, maintaining his lead on the money list in the process. His game fell away for much of the remainder of the year but he today acknowledged that he has worked out some of the issues that saw his relative slump for much of the latter half of the year.
“I think I put too much pressure on myself to turn get things back on track when I started to play poorly rather than just being patient and letting it happen,” said Ogilvy after his round today.
At the completion of 2009 Ogilvy had slipped to 14th in the world but this win will get him back well inside the top ten.
Sabbatini finished runner-up, just one behind the winner, while Matt Kuchar was third and Sean O’Hair 4th after a double bogey at the last cost him a chance of something much better.
The only other Australian in the field Nathan Green finished 22nd in the 28 player field despite sharing the lead after the opening round.
The PGA Tour will now head to Honolulu for the traditional first full field event of the season on the PGA Tour, the Sony Open at the Waialae Country Club where many new recruits to the PGA Tour – including Australians Cameron Percy – will test their games at this level for the first time.
