Date: January 19, 2009
Author:

Scott falls just short

Adam Scott has shot a blistering six-under-par 64 in his final round to finish in a tie for second place at the Sony Open in Honolulu. After dropping a shot on the par-four fourth, Scott carded seven birdies for the rest of his round to soar into contention. He held the lead briefly after overnight leader Zach Johnson stumbled early on, but the American regrouped with four birdies on the back nine to take the title. Johnson&aposs five-under-par round of 65 secured a two-shot victory over Scott and American David Toms. Charles Howell III was a further stroke behind at 12-under, with Kevin Na and Brian Gay one shot back in a tie for fifth. Australian rookie Marc Leishman carded a five-under-par 65 to grab a share of 12th spot in his first PGA Tour event. Starting the day in a tie for second place, Nathan Green struggled with four bogeys early on, but closed with a birdie to also finish in 12th place. Geoff Ogilvy never recovered from a disastrous start that saw him drop five shots through seven holes to finish in a tie for 32nd at five-under overall. Johnson entered the final round with a one-shot lead but was in a three-way tie at the turn. He started the back nine with consecutive birdies and added two more at number 14 and 18 to wrap up his fifth PGA Tour victory. The 2007 Masters champion, Johnson picked up $US 972,000 ($AU 1,425,400) for the win and now has a victory in three consecutive seasons. Toms and Howell III joined Johnson at 11-under entering the final nine holes, but Toms couldn&apost match Johnson birdie-for-birdie and Howell ended up bogeying 18 after consecutive birdies at numbers 16 and 17. Johnson had three birdies and two bogeys on the front nine. He did not drop a shot coming in and made a 10-footer at the 14th to take a two-stroke lead. Toms birdied 18 to close within one and Scott made a late charge playing a few groups in front and closed with birdies at numbers 13, 16 and 18 to finish at 11-under. Johnson closed out the win with his third birdie of the week at the par-five 18th. He had an eagle putt from 33 feet that he lagged to about 18 inches and his easy birdie wrapped up a successful trip to the islands after a tie for sixth at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship last week.