[ SONY OPEN ]
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ernie Els hit out of trouble on the first playoff hole against Harrison Frazar in the Sony Open yesterday at Waialae Country Club.
Els wins again
in playoffThe Big Easy claims his
second straight Sony Open title
by edging Harrison Frazar
Ernie Els gave Harrison Frazar several chances to win his first PGA Tour event during yesterday's final round of the $4.8 million Sony Open in Hawaii, but the Dallas native just wouldn't cooperate.
Finally, after missing a birdie putt of 8 feet on the second playoff hole, Els had had enough of his own generosity. The defending champion, who won last year in a playoff as well, drained a 22-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th to secure his 13th victory on tour and guarantee another visit to Hawaii next January.
"I like this type of golf," Els said. "You have to be patient. It seems like you're not doing much, but just waiting for that one shot to happen and you maybe one-putt and it changes your round. You've got to drive it well here. You've got to have your all-around game here and you've got to shape the ball both sides.
"Iron play is important, everything. You've got to be on your game here to shoot well. But, I mean, Harrison, what a day. He really hung in there, played great. He had a tough couple of holes on seven and eight, but he hung in there and came back strong."
This was the third time Frazar found himself in the lead entering the final round and it certainly wasn't a charm. Els let him back into the tournament with a three-putt bogey at the 15th. Frazar also had an advantage over Els at the finishing hole in regulation, only to miss an eagle putt. Both birdied to finish at 18-under 262, forcing a playoff at the Sony Open for the second consecutive year.
After both parred the first playoff hole at the 18th, Frazar sent his drive into the left rough at No. 10, a similar spot Els found himself in at last year's playoff with Aaron Baddeley. Els hit his second shot over the top of the flag and had a makable birdie from 8 feet. After Frazar chunked his second shot, his third rolled to within 10 feet for par.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ernie Els chipped out of a bunker on the 10th hole yesterday en route to his victory.
Frazar struck his perfectly, leaving Els a little off-center as he looked at the 8-footer for the win. Instead of playing it inside left, Els pushed it just enough for the putt to roll by right, forcing a third playoff hole.
"The second playoff hole, standing over the putt, I couldn't help myself, thinking about last year, when I made it across the green to win the tournament," Els said. "I just felt, you know, maybe I'm destined to make this putt. I misread it, pushed it to the right, and, you know, you don't get too many opportunities like that in sudden death. And when you do, you've got to make them. So I definitely let one go there.
"I didn't think Harrison was going to make his putt (for par). I know you should always be thinking the other guy is going to make it, but I really didn't think he was going to make that and he just bombed it right in the middle. I guess I was a little bit taken aback, I don't know. I was hoping for two putts, but nothing comes easy. You've always got to remember that."
Both found the dance floor on the par-3 11th, but Els had the good fortune to be on a similar line he had had earlier in the day. After watching Frazar miss his birdie attempt from 30 feet, Els sent his in, steady and true, to become the first golfer to successfully defend his title here since Corey Pavin turned the trick at the Hawaiian Open in 1987.
"I'm pretty close to where I want to be," Els said. "I'm pretty close to doing some really good things. I just want to stay on course and just keep going. I can get better. I mean, look at 15 today. You three-putt when you shouldn't three-putt. Then you make it really hard on yourself."
Els' bogey at the 15th, only his third for the week, almost opened the door for third-place finisher Davis Love III as well. Love birdied the 16th and 17th to pull within two of the lead. Had he eagled the 18th, it might have gotten even more interesting. Instead, his second shot from the fairway landed on top of the grandstand guarding the 18th green, leaving him with a par and a third-place finish of 15-under 265, three behind Els and Frazar.
Frank Lickliter II birdied the 18th to finish all alone in fourth at 266. Jerry Kelly, who won here in 2002, had a strong back nine to finish in a tie for fifth with Briny Baird at 267. All five finishers had a chance to win, but in the end, it was Els who sealed the deal.
"I don't feel like I lost today," Frazar said. "I got beat. I played well. When the heat was on there in the middle of the round, I kind of sucked it up and was able to get myself back in there, which, you know. In the past I haven't been able to do that. So, you know I think I found something inside of me that's going to help me further on down the road."
Frazar talked of getting off to a good start on Saturday. Holding a 1-shot lead to start the final round, Frazar steadied himself early with a par putt from 34 feet. Back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8, allowed Els to take the lead, one he stretched to two shots with consecutive birdies at eight and nine.
Both golfers displayed their mettle on the back nine. Frazar chipped one in from the front of the green on 12. Els answered with a chip-in of his own at the 13th. Frazar finally caught Els with a birdie at 17 as both golfers staggered somewhat the rest of the way.
"We were kind of making so many birdies there on the back nine," said Frazar, who fired a 5-under 30 and Els a 4-under 31. "We just had kind of a thing going back and forth there. But you know, like I said, I think I did exactly what I expected and I'm proud of myself for that. I just got beat."
Final-round scores
At Waialae CC
Honolulu
Purse; $4.8 million
Yardage: 7,060; Par 70
x-won on third playoff hole
x-Ernie Els, $864,000 67-64-66-65 -- 262 -18 Harrison Frazar, $518,400 67-63-66-66 -- 262 -18 Davis Love III, $326,400 70-65-63-67 -- 265 -15 Frank Lickliter II, $230,400 71-62-65-68 -- 266 -14 Jerry Kelly, $182,400 68-65-69-65 -- 267 -13 Briny Baird, $182,400 68-66-66-67 -- 267 -13 John Riegger, $160,800 68-66-67-67 -- 268 -12 Stephen Ames, $144,000 66-70-65-68 -- 269 -11 Craig Barlow, $144,000 66-69-66-68 -- 269 -11 Omar Uresti, $110,400 72-66-67-65 -- 270 -10 Vijay Singh, $110,400 69-68-67-66 -- 270 -10 John Huston, $110,400 67-67-69-67 -- 270 -10 Retief Goosen, $110,400 67-69-65-69 -- 270 -10 Paul Azinger, $110,400 67-66-66-71 -- 270 -10 Brenden Pappas, $76,800 67-69-69-66 -- 271 -9 Aaron Baddeley, $76,800 66-72-67-66 -- 271 -9 Jesper Parnevik, $76,800 65-68-70-68 -- 271 -9 Craig Bowden, $76,800 70-64-69-68 -- 271 -9 Bo Van Pelt, $76,800 71-65-67-68 -- 271 -9 Joe Durant, $50,057.15 70-66-69-67 -- 272 -8 Chris Riley, $50,057.15 69-69-67-67 -- 272 -8 Shaun Micheel, $50,057.14 72-64-68-68 -- 272 -8 Luke Donald, $50,057.14 66-66-71-69 -- 272 -8 Carlos Franco, $50,057.14 63-72-68-69 -- 272 -8 Michael Allen, $50,057.14 68-69-65-70 -- 272 -8 Corey Pavin, $50,057.14 68-67-66-71 -- 272 -8 Robert Gamez, $34,800 67-66-72-68 -- 273 -7 Charles Howell III, $34,800 68-68-69-68 -- 273 -7 Cameron Beckman, $34,800 70-69-66-68 -- 273 -7 Steve Allan, $34,800 67-62-70-74 -- 273 -7 Ben Crane, $28,464 68-70-68-68 -- 274 -6 Tim Herron, $28,464 67-69-69-69 -- 274 -6 Mark Hensby, $28,464 68-69-68-69 -- 274 -6 Pat Perez, $28,464 70-69-65-70 -- 274 -6 Jonathan Byrd, $28,464 67-69-66-72 -- 274 -6 Brian Gay, $22,608 69-67-73-66 -- 275 -5 Bart Bryant, $22,608 68-70-70-67 -- 275 -5 Fred Funk, $22,608 69-64-74-68 -- 275 -5 D.J. Brigman, $22,608 69-65-72-69 -- 275 -5 Duffy Waldorf, $22,608 70-67-68-70 -- 275 -5 Tommy Armour III, $16,800 72-67-70-67 -- 276 -4 Shigeki Maruyama, $16,800 71-67-69-69 -- 276 -4 Pat Bates, $16,800 68-65-72-71 -- 276 -4 Kevin Na, $16,800 68-67-70-71 -- 276 -4 John Maginnes, $16,800 68-68-69-71 -- 276 -4 Brent Geiberger, $16,800 70-67-68-71 -- 276 -4 Jason Dufner, $16,800 69-70-65-72 -- 276 -4 Olin Browne, $12,064 70-68-73-66 -- 277 -3 Russ Cochran, $12,064 69-69-71-68 -- 277 -3 Ted Purdy, $12,064 66-71-71-69 -- 277 -3 Peter Jacobsen, $12,064 69-70-69-69 -- 277 -3 Tjaart Van der Walt, $12,064 69-68-69-71 -- 277 -3 Hideto Tanihara, $12,064 67-66-72-72 -- 277 -3 Rod Pampling, $10,944 72-67-72-67 -- 278 -2 Kenichi Kuboya, $10,944 73-66-70-69 -- 278 -2 Andre Stolz, $10,944 68-70-70-70 -- 278 -2 Danny Briggs, $10,944 71-67-69-71 -- 278 -2 Jonathan Kaye, $10,944 67-68-68-75 -- 278 -2 David Ishii, $10,464 66-71-74-68 -- 279 -1 Tom Lehman, $10,464 72-67-71-69 -- 279 -1 Scott Simpson, $10,464 70-66-73-70 -- 279 -1 Bob Burns, $10,464 71-67-70-71 -- 279 -1 Ken Duke, $10,464 70-69-68-72 -- 279 -1 Lucas Glover, $9,648 71-68-74-67 -- 280 E Joe Ogilvie, $9,648 71-68-73-68 -- 280 E Woody Austin, $9,648 69-70-71-70 -- 280 E Bobby Kalinowski, $9,648 70-68-71-71 -- 280 E Todd Fischer, $9,648 69-70-70-71 -- 280 E Hidemichi Tanaka, $9,648 67-70-71-72 -- 280 E Jason Bohn, $9,648 69-66-72-73 -- 280 E John Senden, $9,648 71-67-69-73 -- 280 E Brad Lardon, $9,648 69-69-69-73 -- 280 E Arjun Atwal, $9,648 71-68-68-73 -- 280 E Ryan Palmer, $9,648 70-66-70-74 -- 280 E Richard S. Johnson, $9,648 68-67-71-74 -- 280 E Jeff Brehaut, $9,024 69-69-71-72 -- 281 + 1 Heath Slocum, $8,928 67-71-72-73 -- 283 + 3 Loren Roberts, $8,832 71-68-75-70 -- 284 + 4 Tom Carter, $8,736 70-69-75-72 -- 286 + 6
