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Sidelines
Kalani Simpson
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Final day devoid of drama
EVERYONE should walk up the 18th fairway with a guy about to win a golf tournament. It's incredible, like riding in the world's greatest parade.
But this time was different, yesterday, at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Oh, everyone clapped, and those who could whistle did so, and a few in the bleachers even stood. It was nice. It was a warm ovation. Wonderful applause.
But it was out of politeness, really -- what you do when someone wins a golf tournament.
And that's what was different, this time.
It was a day bereft of passion, yesterday's final round. No drama. No no no no no no drama.
We're spoiled, really. I admit it, I am, when it comes to January Sundays at Waialae. The Sony Open in Hawaii has been phenomenal, these past few years. A heck of a tournament. There's been excitement right up to the end, and even -- think Ernie Els and extra innings and Aaron Baddeley and bad pants -- beyond.
That walk up 18 meant something. Passion. Anticipation. Jubilation. Chicken skin.
Not this time.
It isn't over 'til it's over?
This one was over.
And it had been over pretty much all day.
"You know," Rory Sabbatini would say, "after getting through when I was on No. 5 and I looked back and I saw David (Toms) was 2 under through four, I figured at that point that, you know, he was on today and he wasn't going to let anybody catch him."
Sabbatini shot a 62, would tie for second at 14 under. And he knew by the fifth hole that Toms was all but out of reach.
Toms, who won for the 12th time on tour, walked up the 18th leading by four strokes. He'd birdied No. 1 and never looked back. No need. There was no one behind him. Nothing to see.
Slowly, steadily, he pulled away.
It was boring, actually. For the first time in recent Sony history, there was no final battle. There was no thrilling fight. The gallery watched, waiting.
Where's the beef?
It never came.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rory Sabbatini shot a 62 to work his way into a tie for second place at the Sony Open.
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Toms birdied 18 -- his sixth of the day -- to make the lead five strokes, and it wasn't that close. He was 19 under, and he had won. His family ran out onto the green to greet him. It was a heck of a moment. It always is.
Don't tell Toms it wasn't exciting.
"To me, it just kind of touches me," he would say, of that moment. "There are obviously superstars that win all the time and it looks like it comes easy to them. I guess sometimes like today, maybe it looked like it came easy to me because I played great, but on the inside it's always a battle.
"It's a battle every single day that we go to work whether or not you're going to have a good day or a so-so day or a bad day. To overcome all that and win a golf tournament, it's the ultimate reward for all of those emotions that you go through."
OK, we can all appreciate that; everybody knows what he means. But it would have been nice for the viewing public if Toms had had to have beaten someone besides his inner self.
"The only person that would have had a chance would be Chad," Sabbatini said.
"I just didn't hit the ball well, didn't putt well, didn't do much of anything well," Chad Campbell would say. The big Texan started the day tied with Toms, at 14 under. It was supposed to be a duel, mano a mano, shot for shot. Sony on a Sunday.
But Toms made a move, on 1, and Campbell could only watch him go. And Toms left him in the dust. Campbell made one birdie, on 17. At the end of it he had played even, shot 70 for the day. He just didn't have it.
"That's the way it goes sometimes," he said.
He's right. And that's why Toms won. That is the way it goes, sometimes, in golf. But Toms was unyielding. He was consistently good. He never had "one of those days." He wasn't always spectacular, but was always a top-flight pro. This is how you win PGA Tour events. You go out and shoot 66-69-61-65.
He was just ... good.
"Kept the ball in play and just, you know, kept the pressure on Chad and just I played well," Toms said.
In the previous few years, whenever someone broke from the pack, someone else went with him. This time, no one could stay with him over the course of four days. Toms was just too good. This time, there was only one.
"I didn't put any pressure on him," Campbell would say.
"I had a calm about me," Toms would say.
Unfortunately, this time, so did we all.