Choi holds on to win in Hawaii
IN: News | US PGA | Sony Open in Hawaii (2008) | Round Four | by Bruce Young | 14 Jan 2008
Despite a day where the entire field battled against the strong winds, K.J. Choi held on to win his seventh PGA Tour title when a last round of 71 at the Sony Open in Hawaii left him three shots clear of South African Rory Sabbatini.
There was a noticeable absence of under-par scores amongst the leading twenty or so players on day four as the golf course that had offered so much on the opening three rounds, bared its teeth. Only Sabbatini and Jerry Kelly were able to make significant progress amongst the leading finishers and, although they chased hard, they were unable to catch the Korean.
Sabbatini appeared to be the likely challenger early in his round when he birdied two of the first three holes on a day where very few were picking up shots, but an untimely double bogey at the par four 8th appeared to derail his chances. He got back within striking distance with three birdies in the next four holes but could not do enough to overcome Choi in the end.
“It was very tough out there today,” said Choi after his round. “With the wind today every shot was different but I tried to play safe and remain patient.”
Jerry Kelly had a bogey free round of 67 to move from 14th to a share of third while Steve Stricker continued his great run of late to share fourth with Pat Perez, Kevin Na and Steve Marino.
Na recovered from a horror start to his round, a birdie at the 15th and an eagle at the last getting him into a share of 4th.
New Zealander Tim Wilkinson, in second place overnight, started shakily but appeared to be playing well enough until a double bogey at his 7th hole took the wind out of his sails. From there it became an even greater struggle and although he will be disappointed, there is a lot to take from what was an historic week for him, his first as a PGA Tour cardholder. He finished 25th after a final round of 78.
Wilkinson’s third round of 62 will give him the self-belief he didn’t have at the start of the week and if he can take that attitude to Palm Desert next week he will be the better for it.
The best of the Australasians was New South Wales golfer, Matt Jones, who was playing his first PGA Tour event since graduating from the Nationwide Tour last season. Jones was the only Australian to make the cut and on a day where most struggled. It will be a great boost for him and the US$80,000 or so won’t go astray either.
The PGA Tour now heads to the mainland for this week’s Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in Palm Desert California.
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