One week after letting a final round lead slip, Jimmy Walker proved he had learnt his lesson by expertly closing out the Sony Open. The 36-year-old Oklahoma native won the Waialae hosted Sony Open for the second consecutive year; this time empathically.
Setting the record for the largest victory margin in the tournaments history – a whopping 9 shots – Walker made seven birdies on the closing 11 holes to win at 23-under, and jump into the familiar position of FedEx Cup leader, a position he held for the bulk of last season.
Walker’s repeat win is undoubtedly a big confidence boost after he was rundown by Patrick Reed last week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but it’s also an excellent example of the best response to a narrow defeat, and a testament to his steely determination. Rather than overthink the finish at Kapalua, Walker just shot 62-63 over the weekend to round of his 257 total. In the process he became the first repeat winner at the Sony Open since Ernie Els won in 2003/2004.
He did however admit that he used last week as motivation. “I really wanted to finish out the day like I didn’t do last week,” Walker said.
He started the final day two clear; where it was expected that Matt Kuchar would provide the sternest challenge. However, their contrasting rounds – Walker without a bogey in his 63; Kuchar without a birdie in his 71 – meant the challenge never eventuated. Kuchar’s disappointing effort meant he finished in a tie for third with Harris English and Gary Woodland, who both had 67’s.
Scott Piercy was alone in second thanks to a 66.
The result of Walker’s two stop Hawaiian excursion was a scoring average of 66, just under $1.7 million cash, and an expected leap to number 13 in golf’s official word rankings. His opinion of Hawaii will be vastly different to the unlucky Robert Allenby. The Australia golfer was on the receiving end of a scary robbing and kidnapping after missing the cut.
Of the tips we dished out last week, we had Walker (1st), Day (17), Kirk and Howell III (26), Johnson (64) and Matsuyama (MDF). So we probably didn’t get you too much money unless you picked Walker and nobody else. See how we do later in the week when we preview the Humana Challenge.
