Si Woo Kim battled all day from a 3-shot deficit in the Sony Open, and when he finally caught up late Sunday afternoon, it only got harder.
His 7-iron to the par-3 17th bounded over the firm green and into a tough patch of grass in the rough. Behind, he could hear the cheering for Hayden Buckley making birdie on the 16th hole to regain the lead.
Suddenly, a tough chip got easier.
“Nothing to lose,” Kim said.
With an aggressive stroke, Kim chipped in from 30 feet to tie Buckley, and then he won the Sony Open with a 5-iron out of the bunker from 236 yards that bounced along the dry grass and onto the green, setting up a two-putt birdie from 40 feet and a 6-under 64.
Buckley missed a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 closing hole that would have forced a playoff.
The finish brought a sleepy Sony Open to life and gave the 27-year-old Kim his fourth career PGA Tour victory and first in two years.