Golf

Matt Kuchar holds on in Hawaii for second win of the season

Séamus Power was the only Irish player in Hawaii but missed the cut after second round

Matt Kuchar of the USA wins the 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii. Photograph: EPA

Mon Jan 14 2019 - 07:52

Matt Kuchar overcame an early stumble to win a second PGA Tour title of the season at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The American entered the final round with a two-shot lead, but three bogeys in his first five holes meant he trailed playing partner Andrew Putnam by a shot at the turn.

The duo could not be separated with five holes to play but Kuchar birdied three of his last four to sign for 66, move to 22 under and win by four shots.

Soon after setting out on Sunday Kuchar bogeyed the second and, while he claimed the shot straight back on the next, two more bogeys on the fourth and fifth allowed Putnam to sneak ahead courtesy of a gain on the third.

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Both men birdied the ninth but Kuchar picked up further shots on the 10th and 12th before a Putnam birdie on the 13th looked to set up a tense finish.

Putnam bogeyed the next after finding the sand and Kuchar kept his cool to pull away, the four-time Ryder Cup player birdieing the 15th, 16th and last for an eventually comfortable victory.

Australian Marc Leishman, Americans Hudson Swafford and Chez Reavie, and Canadian Corey Conners finished in a share of third at 17 under.

Ian Poulter carded a closing 68 to finish in a tie for 33rd at eight under, while Scot Russel Knox ended in joint 43rd on seven under.

Final round scores and totals in the USPGA Tour Sony Open in Hawaii (USA unless stated, par 70):

258 Matt Kuchar 63 63 66 66

262 Andrew Putnam 62 65 67 68

263 Hudson Swafford 65 67 67 64, Marc Leishman (Aus) 67 64 68 64, Corey Conners (Can) 68 67 64 64, Chez Reavie 65 65 66 67

264 Davis Love III 67 68 64 65

265 Brian Stuard 66 69 64 66, Charles Howell III 69 66 64 66

266 Sung Kang (Kor) 70 67 65 64, Bryson DeChambeau 69 67 63 67, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 68 65 68 65

267 Ted Potter, Jr. 66 65 68 68, Patton Kizzire 67 68 67 65, Patrick Reed 68 66 68 65

268 Justin Thomas 67 68 67 66, Keith Mitchell 68 65 63 72, Sungjae Im (Kor) 71 64 65 68, Brandt Snedeker 66 69 65 68

269 JT Poston 68 66 69 66, Stewart Cink 68 62 70 69

270 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 68 63 69, Joel Dahmen 67 70 66 67, Cameron Smith (Aus) 66 68 69 67, Kyle Stanley 73 64 68 65, Brian Gay 67 69 68 66, Ryan Armour 72 64 68 66, Harris English 68 68 67 67

271 Keegan Bradley 68 65 70 68, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 68 69 70 64, Abraham Ancer (Mex) 68 66 68 69, Matt Jones (Aus) 67 69 67 68

272 Scott Brown 68 66 70 68, Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 68 67 68 69, Roger Sloan (Can) 69 65 66 72, Sam Saunders 68 69 68 67, Scott Piercy 71 66 66 69, Shugo Imahira (Jpn) 65 67 71 69, Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 69 66 68, Brice Garnett 70 68 68 66, Dominic Bozzelli 71 64 64 73, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 68 68 70 66

273 Julian Etulain (Arg) 67 67 68 71, Scott Langley 70 67 66 70, Stephan Jaeger (Ger) 69 69 65 70, Hank Lebioda 70 67 68 68, Adam Svensson (Can) 61 74 70 68, Jim Herman 69 68 69 67, Russell Knox (Sco) 68 67 69 69, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 68 68 71 66

274 Jim Knous 66 69 69 70, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 69 67 65 73, Jimmy Walker 69 69 67 69, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 67 69 67 71, Brandon Harkins 71 66 70 67, Alex Prugh 73 65 65 71

275 Trey Mullinax 68 70 70 67, Wes Roach 67 68 70 70, Adam Hadwin (Can) 73 65 70 67, Jose de Jesus Rodriguez (Mex) 66 70 70 69, Tyler Duncan 72 66 66 71, Chase Wright 69 68 67 71, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 70 67 69 69

276 Yuki Inamori (Jpn) 69 68 71 68, Ryan Blaum 68 66 71 71

277 Russell Henley 68 69 71 69

278 Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn) 66 72 69 71, Johnson Wagner 68 69 70 71

279 Michael Thompson 66 69 70 74, Kevin Kisner 69 69 68 73

280 Danny Lee (Nzl) 70 66 70 74

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