Toms tears it up

He shoots a 65 for a five -shot victory over Chad Campbell and Rory Sabbatini

David Toms finally found paradise.

After a couple of close calls in the island chain, Toms got his first win here yesterday by beating good friend Chad Campbell and holding off Rory Sabbatini to secure the $5.1 million Sony Open in Hawaii. It was the 12th PGA Tour victory for Toms, who fired a final-round 65 to finish at 19-under 261 in the first full-field event of the long season.

Toms birdied the opening hole and never looked back to see if Campbell was gaining on him as he steadily built an insurmountable lead on the big Texan. The Louisiana native, who calls Shreveport home, beat Interstate-20 rival Campbell and Sabbatini by a comfortable five shots.

Campbell opened with seven ho-hum pars, before a bogey at the eighth gave Toms a three-shot advantage he wouldn't relinquish. The Lewisville, Texas, resident, in his first tournament of the year, never got comfortable with the match-play surroundings. He finished with an even-par 70 and was in danger of being passed midway through the round.

That's because first-round leader Sabbatini roared out of the pack with a front-side 30 that led to an 8-under 62 to allow the South African to draw even with Campbell at 14-under 266. Sabbatini partner Bubba Watson shot a 5-under 65 to claim fourth at 12-under 268. Australian Nathan Green, paired with defending champion Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk, shot 64 yesterday to finish at 11-under 269.

Singh placed sixth at 9-under 271, and Furyk and Mercedes Championships winner Stuart Appleby tied for seventh with Charles Warren at 8-under 272.

But this one belonged to Toms, who lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia at the 2002 Mercedes and finished tied for fourth here to winner Jerry Kelly that same year. Toms, who celebrated his 39th birthday last week on Maui, became the sixth winner at the Sony Open to begin his season at the Mercedes over the last eight years.

"It's nice to win, obviously," Toms said. "It always is, but this early in the season helps my mind-set a lot going into the rest of the West Coast. I played really well when the winds were strong. Had good, solid rounds and took advantage of calm conditions, and then played another solid round today. I kept the ball in play and just, you know, kept the pressure on Chad and I just played well."

Campbell found himself trailing Toms after only one hole. He birdied the first and Campbell didn't. After that, it was just numbers on the scorecard. Toms had them in the red and Campbell's stayed in the black.

"It was a disappointing day," Campbell said. "I really played terrible today. David played well. I never put any pressure on him to make him do anything, but he played solid. A 65 in the final round, well, that's pretty good stuff."

Toms and Campbell began the day seven shots clear of the field. Only Sabbatini was able to cut into Toms' margin, and it wasn't enough to pose any real threat. The birdie at the first set the tone for Toms, who knew he was dialed in early in the round.

"That was big, first hole, making birdie there, kind of just set the tone for the way I guess the day was going to be," Toms said. "I felt very calm out there all day today. I think it's just more about the total satisfaction of winning a golf tournament and being able to reach one of your goals. To me, it just kind of touches me. There are obviously superstars who 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, a so-so day or a bad day. To overcome all of that and win a golf tournament, it's the ultimate reward for all of those emotions that you go through."

Singh wished he had been able to play better through the first 36 holes. Much like last week at the Mercedes, he let some shots slip away early and it cost him later. He said after the round that he was pleased with his performance in Hawaii. It was his 11th top 10 in Hawaii in 17 starts.

"I always feel comfortable here, it's a lot like my home in Fiji," Singh said. "I was too far back to make any difference today, but I'm pleased with the way I've started my year. I wish I could have won at the Mercedes. That one was disappointing, but this is still a good way to begin 2006."

It was a good way to begin for a lot of players in this event, including Campbell, who flew all the way from Texas to start 2006.

"You know, not a bad start to the year," Campbell said. "Hopefully, I can take something from here that is positive. I wasn't able to get anything going today, but my first three rounds were really solid. David was just too tough today. He played well all week."

Now, if Toms could only bottle and sell it, he could creep back in to the top 10.

"If I play like I'm capable of playing, I'm a top-10 player," Toms said. "That's where I've been for a long time now and I knew I was outside of it looking in and I had to play well to get back in. I don't think I'm in the top five. I've been there before, but you know I have some limitations with my game and it's not necessarily made for every golf course that we play. I'm not really worried about it. I'm just going to go out and try to play well."