Toms strolls to victory at Sony Open
IN: News | US PGA | Sony Open in Hawaii (2006) | Wrap | by Bruce Young | 16 Jan 2006
What promised to be a real Sunday battle between the two heroes from Saturday's play at the Sony Open, David Toms and Chad Campbell, didn't really turn out that way as Toms gained an early break on Campbell and maintained a comfortable lead throughout. Toms eventually won by five over Campbell and Rory Sabbatini.
Toms and Campbell were tied at 14 under heading into today's final round but with three birdies in his first nine holes and a bogey by Campbell at the 8th the difference was four as the pair made the turn. By then Rory Sabbatini was beginning to threaten Campbell's claim on second place when he made the turn in 30 and added another at the 10th to move to 12 under and one back of Campbell.
Sabbatini joined Campbell when the South African birdied the 13th and actually moved into second place alone when he birdied the 16th. He was unable to pick up a birdie at the par five last and with a birdie at the 17th Campbell had rejoined him at 14 under. Campbell had an opportunity at the last to pick up the birdie that would see him finish second outright but he was unable to get up and down from 15 yards short of the green and he shared second.
From the moment Toms birdied the first from 12 feet and followed it up from longer range (25 feet) at the third, he had established the break that would grow as the round went on. In the end the victory was by five as Toms made a straight forward birdie at the last to complete his 12th USPGA Tour victory.
While there was of course interest in the impressive win by Toms and the performances of the joint runners up, there was perhaps greater interest in the performances of many of those behind. It was intriguing week in that regard with many newcomers punching above their weight and a couple of more established players signalling a return to form.
Bubba Watson arrived in Australia towards the end of last year having gained his USPGA Tour card via the Nationwide Tour. He had finished 21st on the money list but because of Jason Gore's "Battlefield Promotion", one further place was made available and he was the lucky recipient. He had played in Japan at the Dunlop Phoenix in November and came to Australia looking to develop his game further by playing even more events internationally. He did just that when making it to a playoff with Robert Allenby at the MasterCard Masters and losing at the first extra hole. That day he had come back from a slow start and the experience he gained there was put to good effect today.
In just his third ever USPGA Tour event, Watson again started the final round slowly but stormed home in 30 including an amazing eagle at the last when he left himself just 142 yards for his second at the 550 yard par five. His approach finished just five feet from the hole and the eagle saw him grab fourth place ahead of Australian Nathan Green. The left-handed Watson, with his massive hitting, is destined to become a star of the USPGA Tour and his candid approach will make him even more popular with both the media and golf fans.
Green has been a quiet achiever through his professional career. He has won events such as the Queensland PGA on the Australasia secondary tour and an event on the Canadian Tour but he has hardly been a standout. He has gone quietly about his business however, slowly but surely developing his game to the point where he managed to gain access to the PGA Tour via the Nationwide Tour in 2005. After finishing runner up to fellow graduate Steve Bowditch at last year's Jacob's Creek Open, Green added four more top tens before eventually finishing 18th on their money list. On his return to Australia he played well in the Australian PGA Championship finishing fifth although he had struggled over the final round after leading with Robert Allenby starting day four.
It appeared Green had done well through thirty six holes here just to have made the cut but he had much more in store over the weekend. A third round of 65 had him in with a good chance of a top ten perhaps which would have been a brilliant result in his first ever PGA Tour event (2001 British Open apart). He obviously saw it differently as he put together a mistake free round of 64 to complete the weekend and the tournament in eleven under. For his efforts Green will earn a massive US$205,000 clearly his biggest cheque in a tournament finish although he did earn more (A$500,000) at the 2001 Ericsson Masters with his hole-in-one. Green's effort was even more meritorious given that he played with two of the world's leading players on day four, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk and beat them both.
Singh put together yet another great weekend to finish alone on 6th place after weekend rounds of 65 and 66.
Stuart Appleby was the next best Australian after Green when he finished in 7th place to follow up his fine win last week on Maui.
Adam Scott was 18th following his last round of 66, Peter Lonard was 36th after a strange last day which saw him open with four consecutive bogeys, Aaron Baddeley was 53rd and Mathew Goggin 72nd.
The round of the day on Sunday in so many ways however, came from David Duval. Duval started the day at five over for the tournament after making just his second cut in his last twenty one USPGA Tour starts but he birdied six of his first ten holes, eventually finished with 63 and finished 31st. It further highlighted Duval's continuing improvement in form and what a delight it is to have such a fine player making his way back.
