Goydos rallies to win
HONOLULU – Paul Goydos staged an unlikely rally 11 weeks ago just to keep his PGA Tour card. Sunday was even sweeter, with three birdies in the final four holes at the Sony Open for his first victory in 11 years.
Goydos closed with a 3-under 67 and made birdie on the last hole when his 25-foot chip banged into the pin and settled within tap-in range. Charles Howell III and Luke Donald tied for second, a stroke back.
“I never felt like I was going to win,” said Goydos, who earned $936,000, more than he made all last year.
The tournament belonged to Howell for most of a sunny afternoon at Waialae until a sudden shift on the back nine, when Howell made back-to-back bogeys and Goydos made consecutive birdies.
He had a chance to force a playoff when his 8-iron from the rough didn’t come out as hot as he expected, and the shot came up 50 feet short of the green. His chip ran 15 feet past the pin, and the birdie putt never had a chance. He shot 70 for his seventh runner-up since his only victory in 2002.
“The chip just wasn’t good enough,” Howell said.
Donald had an eagle chip on the par-5 18th that would have forced a playoff, but it hit the pin and spun away, leaving him with a 69.
Tadd Fujikawa, the 16-year-old who became the youngest player in 50 years to make a cut on the PGA Tour, finished his dream week with a birdie on the final hole for a 72, putting him in a tie for 20th.
“I never imagined myself doing this, especially at this age,” Fujikawa said, who returns to the 10th grade on Tuesday.
Goydos’ last victory came at the 1996 Bay Hill Invitational – so long ago that Tiger Woods was still an amateur.
“I set some goals, and one of them was to win every decade,” Goydos deadpanned. “I’m stunned.”
This one looked in doubt until he rolled in a 25-foot birdie on the 15th hole to catch Howell, and a 15-footer on the next hole to take the lead. Goydos made bogey from the bunker on the 17th, and the man they call “Sunshine” – a sarcastic reference to his dour demeanor – finally found reason to smile on the closing hole.
From 25 feet off the green, his chip banged into the pin and stopped a foot away; otherwise, it likely would have rolled some 10 feet by.
“That chip could have gone where Charles’ did,” Goydos said. “Fortunately for me, it stopped close enough where I could make it.”
Goydos finished at 14-under 266.
Champions Skins Game
Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson won the Champions Skins Game, earning seven skins and $260,000 on the back nine to edge Gary Player and Jay Haas by $30,000 at Wailea, Hawaii.
Nicklaus and Watson finished with nine skins and $320,000, giving Nicklaus an event-record 96 skins and $2,295,000. Second last year, Nicklaus and Watson sealed the win when Player-Haas bogeyed the first playoff hole and were eliminated.
Player and Haas, the Champions Tour player of the year, finished with six skins worth $290,000 in the four-team, alternate-shot event. The $30,000 margin was the second-smallest in event history, behind only Gary Player’s $10,000 victory over Watson in 2000 in individual play.
Arnold Palmer made a 10-foot birdie on the second playoff hole to earn a skin worth $100,000, the only money he and Loren Roberts won. Defending champions Raymond Floyd and Dana Quigley began the day tied for the lead with Nicklaus-Watson at two skins and $60,000, but were blanked on the back nine.