Australian Geoff Ogilvy overhauled a stumbling Lucas Glover and a charging Rory Sabbatini with intelligent golf over the back nine to retain the SBS Championship with a one-shot victory on Sunday.
A stroke behind the pacesetting Glover at the start of another sun-kissed, breezy day on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Ogilvy clinched his seventh PGA Tour title with a sparkling six-under-par 67.
Although South African Sabbatini briefly led by two on the way to a superb 63 on the Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course, Ogilvy wrested back the initiative with two birdies in the last five holes of the Tour’s season-opening event.
Ogilvy earned Australia its fifth champion at Kapalua in the last seven years with a 22-under total of 270, while Sabbatini had to settle for second place despite a spectacular 10-birdie display.
American Matt Kuchar, who booked his place in the elite winners-only field with victory at last year’s Turning Stone Resort Championship, finished third at 19 under after closing with a 67.
US Open champion Glover, who had led the tournament for the first three rounds, tumbled back into a tie for 14th after running up two double-bogeys on the way to a 76.
Glover made his first mistake of the day with a three-putt bogey at the fourth to drop one behind playing partner Ogilvy, who had rolled in a 9m birdie putt on the opening hole.
While Glover slid out of contention, Ogilvy sandwiched further birdies at the fifth, eighth and ninth around a lone bogey at the sixth to stay in the title hunt.
Sabbatini, who had covered the front nine in a flawless four-under 32, then took control in sensational fashion when five consecutive birdies from the 11th put him one ahead.
He picked up his 10th shot of the round at the par-four 17th, where he sank a 4m shot, but was unable to birdie the par-five last for the third day in a row.
He safely parred the last three holes to secure victory with his eighth consecutive round in the sixties at Kapalua. He also became the seventh player to win the tournament for at least two years in a row.
■AFRICA OPEN
AP, EAST LONDON, SOUTH AFRICA
South African Charl Schwartzel claimed victory at the Africa Open by one shot from compatriot Thomas Aiken despite bogeying the final hole Sunday.
He finished on 20-under par with a four round total of 272 in the 1 million euro (US$1.44 million) tournament at the East London Golf Club, co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour.
There was a brief moment when Schwartzel thought Aiken had birdied 17 to draw level, but the big scoreboard had it wrong for about three minutes as the eventual champion looked on anxiously from the score-recorder’s booth.
It was Schwartzel’s fourth European Tour win after a run of good form that finally produced a victory.
Aiken, who led going into the final round with Trevor Fisher Jr, was left regretting a double-bogey six on the innocuous-looking 303m fifth.
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