Fabian Gomez’ Used 7-birdie Streak to Win at Sony Open

“I’m obviously disappointed after hitting some uncharacteristically weak putts”, Snedeker said on Golf Channel. “I’ve missed a couple of shorter ones, but it’s been good”.

Gomez, 37, won for the second time on the PGA Tour, and this one was much tougher.

He kept his cool after back-to-back bogeys, and with his confidence restored by a 10-foot birdie putt at 17 calmly drained a 22-footer from off the green at the last hole of regulation.

Snedeker only carded the one bogey on hole four, but was nearly faultless for the remainder of the round, scoring birdies on holes nine, 10, 14 and 16 before finishing the round with a simple four-foot, two-inch putt to force the play-off.

Kevin Kisner recovered from a 5-iron that wound up on the other side of the corporate tents behind the par-3 17th for his only bogey of the round.

Si Woo Kim, the 20-year-old from South Korea, finished strong with birdie and eagle for 65 that put him two back.

His 62 is the lowest closing round by a Sony Open champion.

Blair, whose father played briefly on the PGA Tour in the 1980s, wasn’t the only player to struggle on the 18th.

Vijay Singh, who opened with a 63 for part of a five-way share of the lead, shot a 69 in the afternoon and was at 8 under. Seeking to become the oldest victor in PGA Tour history the 52-year-old Fijian racked up seven birdies with his cross-handed putting style on the tight palm tree-lined layout at Waialae Country Club.

Like several of the great Argentine players, Gomez had started his golfing journey as a caddie in his homeland before embarking on a professional career in 2002. Two dozen players were within five shots of the lead when the third round began.

The inaugural event in 2014 ended in a tie after Asia staged a big comeback on the final day, but there were no such heroics from the home team this time. Just before winning at Sea Island, Kisner had come in second to fellow breakthrough victor Russell Knox at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China.

Kisner knows that better than most.

Snedeker boasted a 2-0 record in play-offs, but it was Gomez who would prevail as he shot a par in the first play-off hole – which his American opponent matched with a long-range putt.

Snedeker, who first found himself in the final group on Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2007, has found a system that works for him.

Europe won the singles 91/2-21/2 after going 41/2-11/2 each in the fourball and foursomes matches at Glenmarie.

Porteous, 21, finished at 18-under 269 at Royal Johannesburg.

Venezuela’s Jorge Garcia was a stroke back after a 74.