Goydos gets the gold

The former substitute teacher is a winner again after so many years of plugging along

The last time Paul Goydos hoisted a trophy in a PGA Tour event, his closest pursuer in yesterday's $5.2 million Sony Open in Hawaii was the same age as Tadd Fujikawa.

It has been nearly 11 years and 256 events between victories for Goydos, who first joined the tour in 1992. He had to earn his tour card again in 1993 and 2002, and was close to having to go back to Q-school once more, before a tie for second in the final full-field event of 2006 landed him high enough on the money list to keep his status.

A former substitute teacher, Goydos stood behind the 18th green as he waited to see how Howell and Luke Donald would play the easiest hole on the course. The worst that could happen would be for Howell to chip in for eagle and win the event outright by one shot. The best that could happen for Goydos would be for Howell to settle for par.

After a poor chip and a badly missed birdie putt from 17 feet, Howell wrote a 5 on his scorecard, clearing the way for Goydos to earn the $936,000 first-place paycheck. In his last two events, Goydos has pocketed nearly $1.4 million.

"Someone mentioned about perseverance; this is my job," Goydos said. "This is what I do. We're trying to win the other (256) times. It wasn't like I was trying to finish 33rd and miss the cut by 10. Our goals are to go out and do your work and play the best golf that you can.

"I set some goals and one of my goals was to win every decade and so far I've accomplished that," he said, then smiled as the room joined him in laughter. "I'm stunned. I mean, I got off to a slow start and I was just trying to hang in there and just, you know, try to take it one shot at a time. Sounds like a cliché, but things weren't going well early. I'm stunned. I'm still stunned. And it's 20 minutes later."

Goydos had a similar second shot at 18 to what Howell had to hit 10 minutes after. Goydos' chip from about 25 yards in front of the green bounced twice in the fringe and then hit the pin so soundly, Goydos thought it might knock it over. Had it gone in, it would have been for eagle.

"Lucky break," Goydos said of that shot. "I never thought, wow, it could go in. That never crossed my mind. I looked up and said, 'Oh no.' "

It was, 'Oh yes' after Goydos tapped in a 2-footer for birdie to give him a 67 for the day and a 14-under 266 finish. At that point, all he could do was sign his scorecard and watch his young followers. Donald chipped first from the other side of the fairway and hit the pin himself. Had it gone in, he would have been in a playoff. He eventually made birdie for a 69 and a 13-under 267 finish.

Howell's chip was similar to Goydos', but unfortunately for him, it didn't hit the pin. Instead, it went 17 feet past, leaving the 27-year-old a difficult putt that he misread so badly, it never got close to the cup. He settled for par and a closing 70 for the round and a 13-under 267 for the tournament.

As tough as it was for Howell, it wasn't much better for Donald, who led after the first and second rounds. He trailed Howell by one after 54 holes and liked his chances on a Waialae Country Club course that suits his game perfectly.

"I'm disappointed because I felt like I was in a good position to win coming into today," Donald said. "I hit some loose iron shots down the stretch and missed some fairways, although I felt I drove the ball well this week. But overall, I'm pleased with how I am playing and just need to eliminate a few mistakes each day.

"He (Goydos) showed some nerve coming in. He was virtually out of the tournament heading into the back nine and fought his way back. I feel each week I have a chance to win the golf tournament. That's the attitude I take and perhaps a different attitude than I had two or three years ago."

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Howell is looking for a similar confidence playing down the stretch. Three times in his career he has held a 54-hole lead, only to come up empty. This one was particularly difficult because he had a two-shot lead over Donald at the turn and a four-shot advantage over Goydos. But unlike Goydos, who played the back nine in 3-under 32, including a bogey at the par-3 17th, Howell was 2-over 37 on the closing holes.

"I feel like the front nine is probably the tougher of the two nines," Howell said. "And with the eagle at the ninth, got to 15 under and 2 under on the front and was very happy with that. The two bogeys at 12 and 13, that's just stuff you can't do when you're trying to win golf tournaments.

"You know, this is not going too far out on a limb, but I guess if Tiger (Woods) turns at 15 under today, he wins today. That guy would have closed this tournament and won it. Vijay (Singh), the same thing. I had a great chance with a two-shot lead there, as well as I played the back nine earlier in the week. Just didn't do it."

Fujikawa didn't play as well as he did the first three days, but his closing 2-over 72 left him at 5-under 275 for the tournament and a tie for 20th. A double bogey at the third, followed by a bogey at the fourth, got Fujikawa off to a rough start. He righted the ship a bit with back-to-back birdies at the par-5 ninth and the par-4 10th. A bogey at the 11th and another at the 15th was offset somewhat with a birdie at the last.

"I just couldn't get anything going today," Fujikawa said. "I made a couple of good putts, but momentum wasn't there. I think on No. 3 that just killed me right there. I was doing OK up to then. I hit my tee shot right in the middle of the fairway and my ball was right in a divot. That's just the way things go.

"This is by far the biggest crowd I've ever seen. You know, it's a good feeling having this many people rooting for you. Even when you hit a bad shot, they are still cheering for you and they still applaud. That feels really good."

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