CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM South Korea's K.J. Choi is the first player since 1967 to win the tournament shooting a final round over par.

Choi the champ

The South Korean's big lead holds up when the wind picks up at Waialae

The wind finally won at Waialae.

Making a grand appearance after laying low the first three rounds, the breeze brought the world's best crashing back to Earth in yesterday's final day of the $5.3 million Sony Open in Hawaii.

K.J. Choi's (71) closing 18 holes were fraught with peril, as he didn't manage a birdie until the last, but it was good enough to procure a win for the fourth consecutive year on the PGA Tour. His four-day total of 14-under 266 left him three shots clear of Rory Sabbatini (68), who finished second at 11-under 269, despite a double bogey at the par-3 eighth.

Jerry Kelly, who won here in 2002, fashioned a 3-under 67 to finish third at 10-under 270. He was one of only eight golfers to land in red figures yesterday, but failed to put any real heat on Choi with a par-par finish.

Steve Marino (72) was right in the thick of things as well, before an unexpected double bogey at the 13th dropped him into a tie for fourth at 8-under 272 with Steve Stricker (70), Kevin Na (72) and Pat Perez (70). Local boy Parker McLachlin (70) overcame a slow start to finish in a tie for 10th at 6-under 274. It's the second top-10 finish of his tour career.

Despite not winning, Stricker had quite a two weeks for himself. The tour's comeback player of the year in 2007 managed a second at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week and a tie for fourth here to earn some key FedExCup points.

But the real winner on this day was Choi, who just tried to keep his head on straight when it counted most. After the bogey at 13, he closed with five consecutive pars and one birdie to capture his seventh tour event and become only the second Asian to win this tournament since it began in 1965.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM With his win at the Sony, K.J. Choi has won on tour four straight years. Only Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh have longer active streaks.

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K.J. Choi didn't do anything spectacular yesterday and fortunately for him, he didn't have to during the final round of the $5.3 million Sony Open in Hawaii.

Waiting until the end to make an appearance, the wind and Waialae proved a brutal mix as scores soared during the last day of the first full-field event on the PGA Tour. A final-round 71 might have been cause for concern during the first 54 holes, but one look at the leaderboard told Choi that wouldn't be a problem this gusty day.

With Rory Sabbatini and past Sony Open winner Jerry Kelly giving chase, all Choi needed to do was keep parring and force them to dig deep in their bags for shots that just weren't there in these conditions.

Among the top 19 finishers, there were only three rounds under par, as George McNeil's 4-under 66 was the best 18 holes for the day. Steve Marino shot 2 under on the front to pull within three with a birdie at the ninth as Choi missed an easy 4-footer at the same hole 10 minutes later to finish the front nine at 1-over 36.

Sabbatini even pulled to within two with a birdie at the par-4 13th, a hole Choi would later bogey, but he would get no closer to the third man to go wire-to-wire at this event. Choi's 1-over round left him at 14 under for the tournament, three shots clear of Sabbatini (68) and four removed from Kelly (67). Marino (72), Steve Stricker (70), Pat Perez (70) and Kevin Na (72), tied for fourth at 8-under 272.

"I can't remember such a difficult round," Choi said. "It was very difficult conditions out there. I told myself, try not to lose focus. I really think the Lord helped me, making me feel comfortable."

Things could have been worse for Choi had he not held it together early in his round. He began the front side with two long par saves of 14 feet each that were almost as big as the birdies he had at those holes on Saturday.

One or both of those testy putts could have gone for bogey and suddenly, you've got a horse race. Choi did bogey the par-3 fourth and the 13th, and didn't manage a birdie until he sank a 3-footer at the last. Had he not made that putt, he would have been the first man to win a tournament without a birdie in the final round since Justin Leonard at the St. Jude Classic in 2005.

As it turned out, he didn't need that red number on his scorecard, but it was a fitting finish for only the second Asian to win here since 1965. Choi's parents were standing behind the 18th green when he knocked his 266th shot into the center of the cup. He was obviously moved to have them by his side in an island setting similar to his homeland.

"Hawaii is such a special place to me because it's so much like my hometown, Wando Island (in South Korea)," Choi said. "Wando, you have water all around, just like Hawaii. There's a lot of similarities. I have an evening flight tonight, so I'm going to try to just enjoy as much of it in the short time that I have tonight, just get a little short party going on. But today is a very happy day."

This win solidifies Choi as one of the rising stars on tour. Only Tiger Woods (12) and Vijay Singh (six) have longer year-to-year win streaks. Phil Mickelson enters 2008 with a win the last four years as well. He can extend it to five with a victory this season.

"That's a very interesting fact that I didn't know," Choi said. "I'm not really concerned about things like that, but I achieved it because I didn't think about it."

He also didn't have to think about making putts down the stretch, thanks in part to Sabbatini missing his eagle try at the last. Had that gone in, things might have worked out differently.

"I got the line locked on the (eagle) putt," said Sabbatini, who wound up three-putting for par. "I was focused on getting it on the right line and just didn't hit it."