Johnson Wagner
Johnson Wagner captured his third PGA Tour title Sunday, shaking off a tightly-bunched pack of pursuers at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Six players had a share of the lead Sunday at some point in the final round. Wagner was the only player who stayed there, playing bogey-free over the last 12 holes for a 3-under 67 and a two-shot victory over Carl Pettersson, Sean O'Hair, Harrison Frazar and Charles Howell III.
For the week, Wagner played the back nine at the Waialae Country Club in a collective bogey-free 14 under par.
"I kind of told everybody I was going to win early this year and man, it feels good to do it," said Wagner. "I worked really hard this off-season, had a lot of help from my coach, my trainer and my caddie."
Wagner ends his two-week working vacation in Hawaii with a tie for ninth last week at Kapalua and a win at Waialae. Going into the year, Wagner had only seven top 10s in his career.
David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was the top Canadian, posting a final round 69 to finish at 9-under par. It was his fourth career top-10 result on the PGA Tour.
"I am very happy with the start to my season," Hearn tweeted. "It felt good to be in the mix so early in the season!!"
Graham DeLaet, who was the leader after the first round, closed with a 72. That left him in a tie for 29th in his first tournament since last June following back surgery.
After three sub-70 rounds, Stephen Ames of Calgary stumbled to a final round 75 and a tie for 46th at 3-under par.
Frazar had the best chance to knock off Wagner. He had the outright lead briefly after a birdie at No. 10, then made pars the rest of the way for a 67. Pettersson overcame a double bogey on the second hole and finished with four birdies on the last six holes, also for a 67.
"My first top 10 as an American," said Pettersson, the Swede who became an American citizen in the offseason.
O'Hair had a 30-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole that burned the edge. He had to settle for a 67, while Howell birdied his last hole for 69 to join the group tied for second.
Jeff Maggert and Matt Every, tied for the lead going into the last day, both collapsed early.
Every made bogey from the bunker on the first hole, drove into the water at No. 2, three-putted for bogey at No. 4 and three-putted again from 4 feet on the sixth hole for a double bogey. He would eventually rally for a 72.
Maggert was scrambling from the start, too, and while he holed par putts of 8 and 15 feet on the opening two holes, it caught up with him. He missed a slew of short putts and finished with a 74.
PGA champion Keegan Bradley, whose eagle on the ninth created a five-way tie for the lead, fell back when his long bunker shot sailed 20 yards over the 10th green, turning a birdie chance into a bogey.
At one point, 21 players were within three strokes of the lead when Wagner made the most significant move of the day, knocking in an 11-foot birdie putt at the par-four 10th for a one stroke advantage. He then forged two strokes clear by sinking a 12-footer from just off the green at the par-four 15th.
"That was huge," Wagner said. "It barely crept in. I knew I had been tied or one ahead and I told myself I wasn't looking until I hit it off the 16th hole.
"And after I hit it in the 16th fairway and saw that it (his lead) was two shots, it was huge. Having that two-shot cushion was really nice."
Steve Stricker, a winner at last week's Tournament of Champions event and looking to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to win the first two events of the year in Hawaii, signed off with three successive bogeys for a 74 and a four-under total.
Files from the Associated Press and Reuters were used in this report