Jimmy Walker Wins Sony Open with 9 Shot Lead

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

JIMMY WALKER did what all great champions do and bounced back from his crushing loss at the Tournament of Champions to win the Sony Open by nine shots. In doing so, he answered all questions about whether he might be a one-season wonder. Walker is a class act, and he is here to stay.

After pars at the first seven holes, it looked like he might be struggling to hold on and was perhaps still being haunted by losing a four-shot lead the previous week. But he birdied the eighth, ninth,

In the end, he left his rivals for dead, blowing away the field with a seven-under 63 to win for the second straight year. His fourth career victory was the most impressive of all. On a course that lends itself to a free-for-all, Walker shot 62-63 on the weekend and never gave anyone much of a chance, winning by a tournament-record nine shots. The previous record was seven shots, last set in 2000 by Paul Azinger.

Walker became the first repeat winner at the Sony Open since Ernie Els in 2004. Scott Piercey closed with a 66 to finish alone in second. Matt Kuchar, who started the final round two shots out of the lead, didn't make a birdie and shot 71 to tie for third with Harris English and Gary Woodland, who each had a 67. Kuchar ended his streak of 255 rounds on the PGA Tour with at least one birdie.

But this was Walker's show, and it couldn't have happened at a better time. Walker had a three-shot lead with five holes to play at Kapalua last Monday when he wound up losing to Patrick Reed in a playoff at the Tournament of Champions. With a quick turnaround, he quickly put it behind him.

"I really wanted to finish out the day like I didn't do last week," Walker said. “After Monday I was kind of wondering how things were going to go. I came in and just continued to do what I did last week, which was hit it really good, and I putted even better this week.”

In the final round he hit 16 of 18 greens. He only had one par putt from outside 8 feet.

“Today was all about keeping the pedal down,” Walker said. “And that's kind of what I talked about at the beginning of the week. If I got back to that position, could we really try to extend the lead instead of just hang on.”

It took 188 starts on the PGA TOUR for Walker to secure his first victory. He now has four wins in his last 32 starts.

“I feel like all the hard work I've been doing is paying off,” he said. “I put in the time. I feel like I've got good people around me, and I think that's really made the difference. They've helped me believe that I can be better than I am.”

He finished at 23-under 257.

The decisive moment came at the par-4 eighth hole. Walker and Kuchar both opened with seven straight pars, and Walker stuffed his approach to 3 feet for birdie. Kuchar pulled his tee shot into the royal palms, punched out short of the green and made bogey.

That two-shot swing gave Walker a four-shot lead, and he was on his way.

Walker couldn't miss on the back nine. He took a total of 20 putts on the back nine at Waialae in the third and fourth rounds.

It was the largest margin of victory on the PGA Tour since Brian Gay won at Hilton Head by 10 shots in 2009. This was more reminiscent of the last time someone lost in a playoff, and then won the next week. That was Kyle Stanley in 2012, though the circumstances were entirely different.

Stanley made triple bogey on the last hole at Torrey Pines and then lost in a playoff. He won Phoenix the following week with a great rally. Walker didn't do that much wrong at Kapalua except for one bad swing off the tee and failing to make a few putts. Still, the loss stung, and he was more than happy to head home to Texas for a two-week break with another trophy.

Derek Clements is a sports journalist with a particular passion for golf with over 12 years of experience covering golf and other sports including Chief Sub-Editor on the sports desk of The Sunday Times. To contact Derek email direct via [email protected]