KAPALUA, Maui » The 18th hole has never been kind to Rory Sabbatini, and that par 5 proved to be his undoing once more.

Nine years ago, the South African needed a kick-in birdie to force a playoff with Jim Furyk, only to see the ball slide by the hole to the left, giving the American the victory.

During yesterday's entertaining final round of the SBS Championship, Sabbatini walked to the 18th tee with a one-shot lead over defending champion Geoff Ogilvy and in need of at least a birdie to put some pressure on the Aussie.

Sabbatini did his best to get the ball there in two, but a slight mishit on the tee, coupled with a brisk Kona wind, caused the ball to come up 65 yards short of its destination. The chip left him with an 11-footer for birdie that he failed to negotiate, opening the door for Ogilvy, who still had most of the back nine remaining to make up the two-shot difference.

He did just that, leaving Sabbatini alone in second once more, despite an impressive final round of 10-under 63. He began the day six shots off the lead and, had he won, would have matched the second-biggest comeback in PGA Tour history.

At one point, Sabbatini managed five birdies in a row on the back to fall only one shot shy of matching K.J. Choi's record of 11-under 62 set in the third round in 2003, the same year Ernie Els finished a record 31 under on the famed Plantation Course.

“;I swear I'm going to make a putt on 18 one of these days to win or at least get in a playoff,”; Sabbatini said. “;If I were here playing every single year, I would be as content as could be. Obviously, I would love to win this tournament, but just being here it's obviously a great field.

“;Everybody here is justified being here. They played well. They earned their right to be here. To be playing against them in the first round of the year, it's fun. It's an enjoyable place. You couldn't ask for better weather, better scenery, a nicer place to start the year.”;

Sabbatini has made a stop here seven consecutive years. He always comes early, allowing himself to get reacquainted with the par-73 course. This year he arrived on Dec. 14 and toured the hilly 18 holes a half-dozen times with a variety of Maui playing partners; some even followed him yesterday to witness his charge up the West Maui hills.

When he began the day, he was 11 under, six shots off the pace, and even told his wife on Saturday night that he would need to shoot 10 under and see what happens. Was that a realistic goal in the strong Kona winds?

“;Well, as funny as it sounds, Lucas Glover should have done it the first round even with a double bogey, so we knew it was out there,”; Sabbatini said. “;The other situation being I was hitting the ball well all week and just needed to get the putter going. And the putter showed up early today. It's amazing how things start to get a little easier out there when you get off to a good start.”;

As tough as 18 was for Sabbatini's improbable win, it was probably his play at 16 that cost him as much as anything. From 87 yards out, he hit his second shot over the green and two-putted from 47 feet to stop his streak of five consecutive birdies. Hit a better second shot there, birdie and maybe 18 isn't a factor.

“;I think the power switch was off when I hit the shot,”; Sabbatini said. “;I hit the shot and wasn't really thinking. I never focused in on the shot, and to miss the green from that distance, well, not even the amateurs I played with would have liked that shot.”;