Si Woo Kim rallies to win the Sony Open

HONOLULU (AP) — Si Woo Kim brought a sleepy Sony Open to life Sunday with a birdie-birdie finish that gave him a 6-under 64 and a one-shot victory over Hayden Buckley.

Buckley led by two shots at the beginning of the day. He was one of nine players in the top 16 who had never won.

Kim, who began the day three shots behind Buckley, caught up with him late in the round. Buckley putt a 15-foot birdie shot on the 16th to regain the lead. Kim was now in the group just above the green at the Par-3 17th.

Kim heard Buckley’s cheers and produced a moment of his very own. He chipped in From just below 30 feet, you can tie Buckley again.

“Right before that, I heard the noise,” Kim said. “It was kind of a tough lie. I had to hit it aggressive — nothing to lose. It went in, I hit it aggressively. It was exciting.”

Kim’s par-5 closing hole shot was 236 yards from a fairway bunker and sailed across the dry, fast Waialae Country Club turf to reach the green. Kim made birdie by hitting two 40-foot putts, then had to wait.

Buckley approached from the right collar and it came out flat and to his right. This left a difficult pitch up the slope to the pin in the back right. It rolled out about 12 feet and the birdie putt for a playoff was just missed.

Kim won the PGA Tour’s fourth edition, his first since The American Express at the California desert in 2012. He finished at 18-under 262 after a 64-64 weekend.

Buckley was forced to settle for a score of 68. After opening with a birdie, he made nine consecutive pars. He then played a six-shot stretch of one par, two birdies, and two bogeys on the back nine, which included a total of one par, three birdies, and two bogeys. His putts were 5 and 4 feet respectively. He also failed to birdie Waialae’s par 5s.

Chris Kirk was the only person to finish in third place with a score of 68.

It was the second consecutive week that someone in Hawaii rallied from at most three shots behind to win. However, it wasn’t as impressive as Jon Rahm who came from six back with nine holes to play at Kapalua to face Collin Morikawa.

“It always can happen fast, like last week,” Kim said. “I tried my best every shot. It was a little shaky the last four holes.”

He missed the fairway on 18th and 17th greens, both places where birdies are difficult to find. Kim was able to win another one.

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