Snedeker, Blair tied for lead at Sony Open

Gomez defeated Brandt Snedeker on the second playoff hole.

Fabian Gomez showed nerves of steel in a play-off against Brandt Snedeker to win the Sony Open and seal his second win on the PGA Tour, adding to his 2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic triumph. Fabian Gomez of Argentina had a 65 and was four back.

Gomez was delighted with the emotional win. “While I was caddying, I was usually caddying for high kind of players”, he stated in his post-tournament press conference. “It’s my second victory on tour”. Snedeker’s shot ran all the way onto the green, and he holed a 35-foot birdie putt for a two-shot lead.

Kisner, who played with Snedeker, kept pace with him on Thursday (both opened at 63) and on Friday until a two-shot swing on their 12th hole.

Snedeker and Blair, co-leaders overnight, stumbled early with bogeys at the par-three fourth, before Blair made his move with birdies at the fifth, seventh and eighth, where he drained a 20-footer, to forge two strokes clear at 18 under. “I felt good all week long and was able to put on a great round”, he said. “I had some good looks coming down the stretch and uncharacteristically I hit some pretty weak putts”.

“It’s frustrating because I couldn’t make putts to win the golf tournament”, Snedeker said.

Argentina’s first major champion was Robert de Vicenzo in the 1967 British Open.

I always remember I won a Tar Heel Tour event in Greensboro and I had to be in Memphis the next day for my U.S. Open sectional qualifying. But when asked for his golfing hero as a kid, Gomez picked Jose Coceres, who also learned the game as a caddie in the Chaco province.

“I am very proud of myself”, an emotional Gomez told Golf Channel, speaking through an interpreter.

“To go out and play the way I did on Sunday at the RSM with a three-shot lead was a huge confidence builder”, Kisner said.

Zac Blair finished a stroke back after a 67.

It was more like frustration for Snedeker.

Snedeker came out flat with seven pars and a bogey and twice fell three shots behind.

Blair almost joined the playoff with a 3-wood he called the best of his life from 280 yards on the closing hole at Waialae.

Snedeker hit driver into a bunker, laid up and hit wedge 10 feet behind the hole. He said leaving his 12-foot putt to win on the first playoff hole “is going to sting today and tomorrow”.

But not too bad. Reigning champion Jimmy Walker who is bidding for an unprecedented third victory in a row at Waialae carded a 69. That’s just over $1 million for two weeks in Hawaii, and optimism about the rest of the year.

Even after missing a 2-foot birdie putt on his last hole, it wasn’t hard for Zac Blair to see nothing but opportunity Saturday at the Sony Open.