Johnson holds off Tadd and Co.
POSTED: Monday, January 19, 2009
When Zach Johnson got a little taste of Maui at last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship, he knew he wanted to come back for more.
LEADERBOARD
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It only took him a week to make that dream vacation come true.
Holding off past champion David Toms and Australian poster boy Adam Scott, Johnson had a tap-in birdie at the last to win the Sony Open in Hawaii by two shots over his fast-closing competitors.
His 5-under 65 landed him atop the leaderboard yesterday at 15-under 265. Scott countered with a 64 and Toms, who won here in 2006, managed a 66 to tie for second at 13-under 267.
The 2007 Masters champion is the seventh major winner to capture the first full-field event on the PGA Tour. He began his charge at the winners-only Mercedes last weekend when he shot 15 under on Saturday and Sunday. Not only has Johnson won two events in his last six starts dating back to last year—in his last six rounds, Johnson is 30 under, prompting the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, resident to say, “;I'm just riding the wave, I guess.”;
Local boy Tadd Fujikawa tried to catch a wave of his own, drawing huge crowds over the weekend. While a Sunday count was not available—early estimates were 18,000—Sony officials said 12,900 fans came on Saturday, up 44 percent over the 8,900 who attended the third round last year.
Put that squarely on the 5-foot-1 Moanalua High senior, who didn't win, but can say he was tied for the third-round lead for more than 2 1/2 hours on Saturday. This feat was not lost on Johnson, who didn't mind sharing the stage with a fellow little big man.
“;That's great,”; Johnson said. “;What he did this week should be inspiring, not only to himself, but to other kids.
“;Just knowing him, and I've seen him work—you know, my caddie and I were talking about it yesterday. I'm on the range warming up and he got done before I teed off. I get done on 18 and I putt a little bit and I come in here to do my media, hit a few balls; he's still putting.
“;That's like 5 hours after the fact on Saturday. I would have been over there at the beach. He's worked hard. That kid is going to get—whatever he gets, he deserves. It's pretty awesome. I also think the way and the manner in which he is going about his business is very good relative to some others we've seen. I think his parents deserve a pat on the back for that.”;
Fujikawa will pocket a little less than $30,000 for tying for 32nd, a far cry from the $972,000 Johnson earned, but not a bad payday for a senior in high school. He promised to take family and friends out for dinner and is hopeful this will lead to a few more sponsor's exemptions.
As for Johnson, his fifth PGA Tour win is sweet. It's hard for him to say where it stacks up compared to other past wins, but one thing he does know, he's coming back to Hawaii next year.
“;After you get a taste of Maui, you always want to keep coming back,”; Johnson said of the elite Mercedes field. “;That's a good thing. I get to go back to Maui again. That's never a bad thing. And Oahu. Starting your year in these two destinations is pretty awesome.”;
Although he didn't win, Scott, who was linked to actress Kate Hudson last week on Maui, was pleased with his performance. His 6-under effort yesterday was the best in the final round and it let the Aussie know that he's still got game.
“;Yeah, it was a good week, solid week for me,”; Scott said. “;Today was really good for me. It's been a long time since I've been in the hunt in anything (his last top 10 was at Wachovia last May). It was nice to get on the back nine and have a chance and get the competitive nerves going again.”;
Toms didn't enjoy his closing 18 as much as Scott because he played the final hole so poorly. He wound up parring it—figuring he needed an eagle to tie—all but giving the tournament to Johnson, whose tap-in birdie was a bit anticlimactic.
“;It's a good start,”; Toms said of his first tournament of the year. “;You know, I needed to get off to a good start after the way last year was. I was hoping to get a victory today, but Zach played awfully well. I was proud of the way I hung in there and put pressure on him, and through the whole back nine. He's a good player and tough to beat.”;
FINAL ROUND
Final round at Waialae Country Club
(FedExCup points in parentheses)
| Zach Johnson (500), $972,000 | 69-65-66-65 | — | 265 |
| Adam Scott (245), $475,200 | 71-66-66-64 | — | 267 |
| David Toms (245), $475,200 | 70-66-65-66 | — | 267 |
| Charles Howell III (135), $259,200 | 67-68-67-66 | — | 268 |
| Kevin Na (105), $205,200 | 72-65-66-66 | — | 269 |
| Brian Gay (105), $205,200 | 66-67-68-68 | — | 269 |
| Steve Marino (87), $174,150 | 68-67-70-66 | — | 271 |
| George McNeill (87), $174,150 | 69-68-65-69 | — | 271 |
| Webb Simpson (75), $145,800 | 66-68-70-68 | — | 272 |
| Bill Haas (75), $145,800 | 68-71-65-68 | — | 272 |
| Boo Weekley (75), $145,800 | 66-69-67-70 | — | 272 |
| Tim Clark (54), $87,971 | 71-70-68-64 | — | 273 |
| Marc Leishman (54), $87,971 | 72-66-70-65 | — | 273 |
| Rory Sabbatini (54), $87,971 | 68-70-70-65 | — | 273 |
| Scott Piercy (54), $87,971 | 67-72-69-65 | — | 273 |
| K.J. Choi (54), $87,971 | 68-69-70-66 | — | 273 |
| Tim Herron (54), $87,971 | 68-71-68-66 | — | 273 |
| Bob Estes (54), $87,971 | 72-67-68-66 | — | 273 |
| Sean O'Hair (54), $87,971 | 71-68-66-68 | — | 273 |
| Jeff Klauk (54), $87,971 | 69-69-66-69 | — | 273 |
| Nathan Green (54), $87,971 | 66-66-69-72 | — | 273 |
| Shigeki Maruyama (54), $87,971 | 65-68-68-72 | — | 273 |
| Jerry Kelly (44), $43,380 | 67-72-69-66 | — | 274 |
| Cliff Kresge (44), $43,380 | 69-69-69-67 | — | 274 |
| Troy Matteson (44), $43,380 | 71-67-69-67 | — | 274 |
| Ryuji Imada (44), $43,380 | 71-70-66-67 | — | 274 |
| Chez Reavie (44), $43,380 | 70-70-66-68 | — | 274 |
| Luke Donald (44), $43,380 | 67-70-68-69 | — | 274 |
| Briny Baird (44), $43,380 | 69-67-69-69 | — | 274 |
| Cameron Beckman (44), $43,380 | 72-66-67-69 | — | 274 |
| Steve Stricker (44), $43,380 | 70-68-67-69 | — | 274 |
| Bart Bryant (36), $29,237 | 71-69-71-64 | — | 275 |
| Stewart Cink (36), $29,237 | 71-65-72-67 | — | 275 |
| Greg Owen (36), $29,237 | 71-67-70-67 | — | 275 |
| Jimmy Walker (36), $29,237 | 73-66-68-68 | — | 275 |
| D.J. Trahan (36), $29,237 | 71-67-66-71 | — | 275 |
| Geoff Ogilvy (36), $29,237 | 66-69-68-72 | — | 275 |
| Tadd Fujikawa (0), $29,237 | 71-69-62-73 | — | 275 |
| Scott Sterling (29), $21,600 | 71-69-71-65 | — | 276 |
| Hideto Tanihara (0), $21,600 | 72-65-73-66 | — | 276 |
| Arron Oberholser (29), $21,600 | 68-73-69-66 | — | 276 |
| Ernie Els (29), $21,600 | 72-69-68-67 | — | 276 |
| Michael Letzig (29), $21,600 | 69-70-69-68 | — | 276 |
| Brendon Todd (29), $21,600 | 69-71-66-70 | — | 276 |
| Azuma Yano (0), $15,444 | 71-70-70-66 | — | 277 |
| Michael Allen (23), $15,444 | 72-68-70-67 | — | 277 |
| Glen Day (23), $15,444 | 70-68-72-67 | — | 277 |
| Chris Stroud (23), $15,444 | 67-70-71-69 | — | 277 |
| Brian Davis (23), $15,444 | 69-68-68-72 | — | 277 |
| Wil Collins (23), $15,444 | 69-67-69-72 | — | 277 |
| Alex Cejka (18), $12,879 | 72-69-70-67 | — | 278 |
| Ted Purdy (18), $12,879 | 69-69-70-70 | — | 278 |
| Tim Wilkinson (18), $12,879 | 68-70-68-72 | — | 278 |
| Harrison Frazar (18), $12,879 | 69-70-66-73 | — | 278 |
| Steve Lowery (14), $12,258 | 71-68-70-70 | — | 279 |
| Casey Wittenberg (14), $12,258 | 71-70-68-70 | — | 279 |
| Tommy Gainey (14), $12,258 | 71-70-66-72 | — | 279 |
| Kevin Streelman (14), $12,258 | 70-69-67-73 | — | 279 |
| Joe Durant (9), $11,718 | 73-68-70-69 | — | 280 |
| Richard S. Johnson (9), $11,718 | 70-71-69-70 | — | 280 |
| Matt Bettencourt (9), $11,718 | 73-68-69-70 | — | 280 |
| David Mathis (9), $11,718 | 68-68-71-73 | — | 280 |
| Tom Pernice, Jr. (9), $11,718 | 69-63-75-73 | — | 280 |
| Kenny Perry (9), $11,718 | 69-69-68-74 | — | 280 |
| Troy Kelly (4), $11,178 | 71-66-75-70 | — | 282 |
| Arjun Atwal (4), $11,178 | 69-71-72-70 | — | 282 |
| John Merrick (4), $11,178 | 70-70-72-70 | — | 282 |
| Jarrod Lyle (4), $11,178 | 70-69-70-73 | — | 282 |
| Andres Romero (1), $10,800 | 73-68-71-71 | — | 283 |
| Jeff Overton (1), $10,800 | 71-69-71-72 | — | 283 |
| Paul Azinger (1), $10,800 | 68-73-71-71 | — | 283 |
| Spencer Levin (0), $10,584 | 71-69-70-74 | — | 284 |
| Jeff Quinney (0), $10,368 | 71-70-72-72 | — | 285 |
| Tag Ridings (0), $10,368 | 71-69-72-73 | — | 285 |
| Tim Petrovic (0), $10,368 | 69-72-71-73 | — | 285 |
| D.A. Points (0), $10,152 | 68-73-74-71 | — | 286 |
| Matthew Borchert (0), $10,044 | 73-67-73-75 | — | 288 |
| Junpei Takayama (0), $9,936 | 71-69-74-75 | — | 289 |
