HONOLULU — Ryan Palmer went from anxious to overwhelmed Sunday in the 50 feet his chip shot traveled on the final hole until it struck the pin and settled inches away, leading to a one-shot victory at the Sony Open.
Palmer, locked in a duel with Robert Allenby to the very end, 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 smidgen 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 4-under-par 66 and his third career PGA Tour victory.
“Lucky bounce,” said Palmer, who finished at 15-under 265. “It was probably going to go by 7 or 8 feet. I still hit a good chip. You need things like that to win.”
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.”
Steve Stricker, who shared the lead briefly on the back nine, had a 65 to finish third, two strokes back. Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen closed with a 62 and finished fourth.
Nicklaus, Watson win Skins
KAANAPALI, Hawaii — Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson held off defending champions Fuzzy Zoeller and Ben Crenshaw to win the Champions Skins Game.
Nicklaus, who will be 70 on Thursday, and Watson birdied two holes to win three skins and $130,000 on the back nine. They finished with 10 skins and $350,000 for their second victory in the event in four years.
Schwartzel remains sharp
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel won for second straight week, closing with a 5-under 66 for a six-stroke victory in the Joburg Open.
South Africa’s Keith Horne (64) and Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke (68) tied for second.
The Associated Press
