Palmer's cool birdie on last hole clinches title
Source: Agencies |
January 19, 2010, Tuesday
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RYAN Palmer made a 50-foot chip shot on the final hole that hit the pin and left him a tap-in for birdie and a one-shot victory over Robert Allenby at the Sony Open in Honolulu on Sunday.
Palmer, locked in a duel with Australia's Allenby to the very end at Waialae, came up short of the green on the par-5 18th and faced a delicate chip. Allenby went over the green and pitched to just inside 10 feet.
Palmer thought his chip was a little too hard, and he tumbled backward in relief when the ball struck the pin squarely. Allenby missed his birdie putt, and Palmer tapped in for a four-under 66 and his third career PGA Tour victory. "Lucky bounce," Palmer said. "It was probably going to go by 7 or 8 feet. I still hit a good chip. You need things like that to win."
The victory gave made the 33-year-old Texan exempt on the PGA Tour through 2012, and earned him a trip back to the Masters for the first time in five years.
Charles Howell III ended a stretch of 17 tournaments without a top 10 with a 66-64 weekend to tie for fifth with Carl Petterson (66) and Davis Love III, who holed out for eagle from the 16th fairway and closed with a 67.
Johnson, the defending champion and among those three shots back going into the last round, got off to another sluggish start and didn't have enough holes to recover. Three straight birdies led to a 70.
Played bogey-free
Allenby was trying to win his third consecutive tournament on three tours, a feat believed to have never been accomplished, and he gave himself every chance. He played bogey-free on the back nine, but he needed one more birdie.
His second shot out of the rough on the 18th came out hot and over the green, and he did well to give himself a realistic chance at birdie and a playoff.
Allenby, who won the Nedbank Challenge on the Sunshine Tour and the Australian PGA Championship on the Australasian PGA Tour at the end of last year, closed with a 67. "I had a couple of chances out there," Allenby said. "It's so easy to look back and say, 'I could have made that, I could have made that.' But at the end of the day, realistically, I needed to make a birdie at the last."
Palmer finished at 15-under 265 and earned US$990,000.
Steve Stricker had a 65 to finish third, two strokes back. Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa closed with a 62 and was atop the leaderboard as Palmer and Allenby made the turn, although his 12-under 268 never looked as though it would be enough.
Palmer went wire-to-wire, which he can attribute to an article he read early in the week about Johnson and his strategy of not thinking beyond the shot in front of him. Palmer tried to treat each day as though he were starting over, and he wound up with a great season start.
Palmer, locked in a duel with Australia's Allenby to the very end at Waialae, came up short of the green on the par-5 18th and faced a delicate chip. Allenby went over the green and pitched to just inside 10 feet.
Palmer thought his chip was a little too hard, and he tumbled backward in relief when the ball struck the pin squarely. Allenby missed his birdie putt, and Palmer tapped in for a four-under 66 and his third career PGA Tour victory. "Lucky bounce," Palmer said. "It was probably going to go by 7 or 8 feet. I still hit a good chip. You need things like that to win."
The victory gave made the 33-year-old Texan exempt on the PGA Tour through 2012, and earned him a trip back to the Masters for the first time in five years.
Charles Howell III ended a stretch of 17 tournaments without a top 10 with a 66-64 weekend to tie for fifth with Carl Petterson (66) and Davis Love III, who holed out for eagle from the 16th fairway and closed with a 67.
Johnson, the defending champion and among those three shots back going into the last round, got off to another sluggish start and didn't have enough holes to recover. Three straight birdies led to a 70.
Played bogey-free
Allenby was trying to win his third consecutive tournament on three tours, a feat believed to have never been accomplished, and he gave himself every chance. He played bogey-free on the back nine, but he needed one more birdie.
His second shot out of the rough on the 18th came out hot and over the green, and he did well to give himself a realistic chance at birdie and a playoff.
Allenby, who won the Nedbank Challenge on the Sunshine Tour and the Australian PGA Championship on the Australasian PGA Tour at the end of last year, closed with a 67. "I had a couple of chances out there," Allenby said. "It's so easy to look back and say, 'I could have made that, I could have made that.' But at the end of the day, realistically, I needed to make a birdie at the last."
Palmer finished at 15-under 265 and earned US$990,000.
Steve Stricker had a 65 to finish third, two strokes back. Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa closed with a 62 and was atop the leaderboard as Palmer and Allenby made the turn, although his 12-under 268 never looked as though it would be enough.
Palmer went wire-to-wire, which he can attribute to an article he read early in the week about Johnson and his strategy of not thinking beyond the shot in front of him. Palmer tried to treat each day as though he were starting over, and he wound up with a great season start.
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