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Singh steals show
His birdie on the 18th ends
Els' fantastic comeback attempt
Despite being ranked No. 1 in the world, Vijay Singh wasn't the headline act at this week's $4.8 million Sony Open in Hawaii.
Michelle Wie and Shigeki Maruyama were the show the first three days of the first full-field event on the PGA Tour and two-time defending champion Ernie Els tried to steal it with a final-round 62. But there's a reason why Singh is at the top of the charts and he showed it with a steady 65 yesterday to finally get a win in the 50th state.
It was the seventh victory in Singh's last 11 starts on tour and 10th come-from-behind win for the 41-year-old Fijian. He now has 25 victories on tour and 47 worldwide, but this one was particularly sweet.
"Yeah, I was pretty disappointed about last week's finish," said Singh, who led the first three rounds of the Mercedes Championships, only to let it slip away on the back nine. "So I came over here not knowing what to expect.
"I was hitting a lot of good shots and I just hung in there and that was the key. I knew the scores were not going to go that low because of the way the wind was blowing. At the start of the day I told my caddy I thought 12 under was going to win and that was my target."
Singh didn't miss by much. His four-day total of 11-under 269 was one better than Els, who tied the course record with his 8-under finishing round. Singh needed a birdie at the 18th to erase the playoff possibility with Els, who spent part of his afternoon having a late lunch with his family as he watched the closing holes.
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Singh's birdie at the par-5 18th was no cinch. He had a bogey and two pars at that hole the first three days, but he hit a perfect drive into the middle of the fairway, left his second shot on the front fringe and then two-putted to eliminate Els from the equation.
"Ernie played well," Singh said. "Once he got to 10 under, it kind of changed the way I thought as well. Before that, I was looking forward to making birdie on every hole and all of a sudden, it figures like, hey, you don't have to drop a shot anymore because he's already posted 10.
"It does play some crazy things with your mind. That was the main reason I think Ernie was the cause of everybody dropping out because he had already posted up there and the finishing holes over here are pretty tough."
Even with his birdie at the 18th, it still wasn't over. Third-round leader Shigeki Maruyama was mathematically in the equation at 9 under for the tournament. He hit his drive into the rough and left his second shot 91 yards from the green. But unlike his hero, Japanese golfer Isao Aoki, he didn't have a miracle approach in his bag.
Maruyama settled for par at the finishing hole to wind up in a tie for third with Charles Howell III. Maruyama fired a final-round 72 to fall from the top spot, while Howell came up a bit with his 67. He was 9 under over the weekend, but like everyone else in the field, he didn't quite have enough to track down Singh.
Singh opened the day four shots off Maruyama's 54-hole lead and steadily moved up the leaderboard with a bogey-free round that included birdies at the second and ninth holes on the frontside, and three more at the 10th, 11th and 18th on the back. It wasn't a show-stopper like Els' finish, but it was enough to secure the win.
Els did his best to force a third playoff in as many years. He won the first two in dramatic fashion over Australian Aaron Baddeley in 2003 and Harrison Frazar last year. Had Singh parred the final hole, three would have been a charm for Els, who continues to San Diego to join Singh, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at the Buick Invitational.
"I had a really good time," Els said of his birdie, birdie, eagle finish. "But I always felt I was going to be just a little shy, because, you would think 12 under would be the number. But I still had a great day.
"The last two weeks have been hard. You've got to play solidly for four rounds to win golf tournaments out here. The final round, you've got to go forward. You don't make pars and win golf tournaments out here. Today I almost got something out of it. It would have been great to come from eight behind or something and make a playoff."
Given Els' history here, Singh was glad to avoid it.
"I didn't know how the rest of the guys were going to do," Singh said. "I knew how Ernie finished and I knew that was the mark to catch. I heard the roar on the 12 hole and I said, 'Well, he must have made eagle.' I had six holes to go and I said I need a birdie, without a bogey and I think I can win it."
The crowd reaction after Singh made his birdie at the 18th was mixed. Maruyama and Els were the clear choices once Wie exited the stage on Friday. But give Singh credit; he solidified his hold on his No. 1 world ranking and now faces a stiff challenge this week at a course that hasn't been kind to him in the past.
"I missed the cut last year, so maybe the course owes me something," said Singh, who felt the same thing about the Plantation Course on Maui and the Waialae Country Club course on Oahu coming into the opening of the 2005 season. "It's good to get a win early in the year because you know you'll be back in Hawaii next year."
www.golfweb.com/tournaments/r006/
Final scores
At Waialae Country ClubPurse: $4.8 million
Yardage: 7,060
Par: 70
| Vijay Singh, $864,000 | 69-68-67-65 | -- | 269 |
| Ernie Els, $518,400 | 71-67-70-62 | -- | 270 |
| Charles Howell III, $278,400 | 70-70-64-67 | -- | 271 |
| Shigeki Maruyama, $278,400 | 67-65-68-71 | -- | 271 |
| Stewart Cink, $182,400 | 66-69-72-65 | -- | 272 |
| Brett Quigley, $182,400 | 66-67-68-71 | -- | 272 |
| Tommy Armour III, $154,800 | 69-71-67-66 | -- | 273 |
| Andrew Magee, $154,800 | 67-68-71-67 | -- | 273 |
| Craig Stadler, $124,800 | 71-69-67-67 | -- | 274 |
| Tom Lehman, $124,800 | 67-68-70-69 | -- | 274 |
| Bart Bryant, $124,800 | 70-69-66-69 | -- | 274 |
| Robert Gamez, $124,800 | 69-66-68-71 | -- | 274 |
| David Toms, $90,000 | 71-68-68-68 | -- | 275 |
| Shaun Micheel, $90,000 | 70-68-68-69 | -- | 275 |
| Jeff Maggert, $90,000 | 70-68-68-69 | -- | 275 |
| Luke Donald, $90,000 | 74-67-65-69 | -- | 275 |
| Tim Herron, $72,000 | 68-72-71-65 | -- | 276 |
| Jason Allred, $72,000 | 69-68-70-69 | -- | 276 |
| Paul Azinger, $72,000 | 67-68-67-74 | -- | 276 |
| Tom Byrum, $48,420 | 66-71-73-67 | -- | 277 |
| Joe Durant, $48,420 | 69-72-69-67 | -- | 277 |
| Jonathan Kaye, $48,420 | 67-71-71-68 | -- | 277 |
| Loren Roberts, $48,420 | 70-70-69-68 | -- | 277 |
| Pat Perez, $48,420 | 71-70-66-70 | -- | 277 |
| Justin Rose, $48,420 | 67-66-72-72 | -- | 277 |
| Adam Scott, $48,420 | 71-65-69-72 | -- | 277 |
| Larry Mize, $48,420 | 70-69-64-74 | -- | 277 |
| Peter Jacobsen, $32,640 | 72-68-70-68 | -- | 278 |
| Craig Parry, $32,640 | 69-70-70-69 | -- | 278 |
| Ryan Palmer, $32,640 | 69-70-70-69 | -- | 278 |
| Jeff Sluman, $32,640 | 67-68-73-70 | -- | 278 |
| Arron Oberholser, $32,640 | 71-69-69-69 | -- | 278 |
| Jim Furyk, $25,920 | 71-69-72-67 | -- | 279 |
| Brian Gay, $25,920 | 71-70-71-67 | -- | 279 |
| Chris Riley, $25,920 | 71-71-68-69 | -- | 279 |
| Jason Bohn, $25,920 | 71-70-69-69 | -- | 279 |
| Brent Geiberger, $25,920 | 68-71-70-70 | -- | 279 |
| Rich Beem, $21,120 | 70-69-74-67 | -- | 280 |
| Sean Murphy, $21,120 | 70-72-70-68 | -- | 280 |
| Heath Slocum, $21,120 | 72-70-69-69 | -- | 280 |
| Franklin Langham, $21,120 | 71-68-70-71 | -- | 280 |
| Briny Baird, $16,800 | 68-71-73-69 | -- | 281 |
| Bob Estes, $16,800 | 71-69-72-69 | -- | 281 |
| Tom Pernice, Jr., $16,800 | 69-72-70-70 | -- | 281 |
| D.J. Trahan, $16,800 | 70-67-73-71 | -- | 281 |
| Rory Sabbatini, $16,800 | 72-70-66-73 | -- | 281 |
| Ben Crane, $12,053.34 | 71-70-73-68 | -- | 282 |
| John Riegger, $12,053.34 | 72-68-73-69 | -- | 282 |
| Billy Mayfair, $12,053.34 | 71-71-71-69 | -- | 282 |
| Woody Austin, $12,053.33 | 67-71-73-71 | -- | 282 |
| Chad Campbell, $12,053.33 | 67-71-73-71 | -- | 282 |
| Todd Hamilton, $12,053.33 | 69-71-71-71 | -- | 282 |
| Zach Johnson, $12,053.33 | 76-65-70-71 | -- | 282 |
| Steve Allan, $12,053.33 | 75-67-68-72 | -- | 282 |
| Dick Mast, $12,053.33 | 74-64-69-75 | -- | 282 |
| Steve Jones, $10,608 | 73-69-74-67 | -- | 283 |
| Rob Rashell, $10,608 | 73-67-74-69 | -- | 283 |
| Retief Goosen, $10,608 | 72-70-72-69 | -- | 283 |
| D.J. Brigman, $10,608 | 73-69-71-70 | -- | 283 |
| Greg Owen, $10,608 | 69-73-71-70 | -- | 283 |
| Daniel Chopra, $10,608 | 73-69-69-72 | -- | 283 |
| Jonathan Byrd, $10,608 | 73-69-69-72 | -- | 283 |
| Steve Flesch, $10,608 | 73-69-69-72 | -- | 283 |
| Duffy Waldorf, $9,984 | 74-68-75-67 | -- | 284 |
| Jesper Parnevik, $9,984 | 72-69-71-72 | -- | 284 |
| D.A. Points, $9,984 | 71-70-71-72 | -- | 284 |
| Omar Uresti, $9,984 | 70-72-70-72 | -- | 284 |
| Hank Kuehne, $9,984 | 66-73-72-73 | -- | 284 |
| John Cook, $9,600 | 72-68-71-74 | -- | 285 |
| Nick Watney, $9,600 | 70-70-71-74 | -- | 285 |
| Ryuji Imada, $9,600 | 73-69-68-75 | -- | 285 |
| Charles Warren, $9,264 | 74-68-76-68 | -- | 286 |
| Joey Snyder III, $9,264 | 71-71-74-70 | -- | 286 |
| Sean O'Hair, $9,264 | 69-71-73-73 | -- | 286 |
| Tom Kite, $9,264 | 71-71-69-75 | -- | 286 |
| Dean Wilson, $9,024 | 69-70-72-77 | -- | 288 |
| Greg Meyer, $8,928 | 71-70-74-74 | -- | 289 |
| Paul Gow, $8,832 | 70-68-76-79 | -- | 293 |
Els fell just
short of 3-peat
Ernie Els, who won the previous two Sony Open in Hawaii tournaments in sudden-death playoffs, almost made it into a third one yesterday at the Waialae Country Club.
The big South African golfer overcame an eight-shot deficit with a dazzling final-round 62 that included a dramatic birdie-birdie-eagle finish. His score set a Sony Open tournament record and made him the leader in the clubhouse at 10-under 270 until eventual winner Vijay Singh eclipsed him by a shot with a birdie at the 18th.
Els, who picked up the $518,400 second-place check, has two top-five finishes and $868,400 to show for the two weeks of the 2005 PGA Tour.
"I really played well today," the Big Easy said afterward. "I played the way I know I can play this golf course. It was fun and exciting, especially finishing the way I did."
But Els said he had a premonition that his score would not quite hold up. "When the leader tees off at 10 under, you figure that 12 under will be the number," he said. "But I still had a great day."
Had he somehow managed to get in a playoff and win the tournament, Els would have become the first golfer in the tournament's history to pull off a three-peat. He is one of only three golfers to win back-to-back titles at Waialae, Hubert Green (1978-79) and Corey Pavin (1986-87) being the others.
Els credited his performance to an improved putting stroke. On Saturday, he switched to a heavier, more-lofted putter and yesterday it paid off. On his way around Waialae he needed only 23 putts -- nine fewer than the 32 putts he needed during Thursday's opening round.
"I left a lot of shots out there the first three rounds," he said. "Today, I was able to make up for it."
Els' day got off to an auspicious start when he birdied the first hole -- a 488-yard, into-the-wind par-4 that proved to be the most difficult hole all week at Waialae.
"I had a perfect start," said Els, who then gave a shot back when he three-putted the second. "But then I made a long putt for birdie at the third and that settled me down."
Els followed up with another birdie at the fifth and then reeled off three more birdies at 9, 10, and 11, sticking a 6-iron within 3 feet at the par-3 11th to go 7 under. His lone mistake on the back nine came at the 14th, where he drove into the rough and left his approach shot in a greenside bunker. It was his second and last bogey of the day.
"I was feeling a little dejected (after No. 14)," he said. "I felt as if I had let my chances slip. But whether you're 4 over par or 6 under, you have to try to finish ... as strong as you can. ... I just tried to get it all together and make some birdies coming in."
Els' remarkable finish began when he rolled in a 10-footer from the back fringe at the 16th. At the par-3 17th, he stopped a 5-iron 4 feet from the flag for another birdie, then laced a 3-iron to within 18 feet at the par-5 18th.
When he rolled that putt in for eagle, a good day's work was done.
"I haven't been finishing off my rounds the way I should," Els said. "Today was definitely a good finish to my round and to my tournament. Hopefully, it will keep me going until next week."
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