Kizzire outlasts Hahn on 6th hole of Sony Open playoff
Patton Kizzire figured he was in for a long day when his putting stroke wasn’t up to his standards.
He just wasn’t expecting the Sony Open to go this long.
The longest playoff in more than five years on the PGA Tour finally ended Sunday when Kizzire two-putted for par from just off the green on the par-3 17th hole, and James Hahn’s 8foot putt to keep it going caught the right edge of the lip and spun away.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Kizzire said. “I was able to get it done.”
Kizzire, who closed with a 2under 68, became the first multiple winner on the PGA Tour this season. He went head-to-head with Rickie Fowler and beat him by one shot in the OHL Classic in Mexico last fall for his first PGA Tour title. He was in a four-man battle on the back nine at Waialae that was whittled down to Kizzire and Hahn, who closed with a 62 to match him at 17under 273.
And the fun was just getting started.
Kizzire had to watch three times as Hahn had a putt to win, two of those putts from 6 feet and 10 feet on the par-5 18th hole. Kizzire had two putts to win, though both of them were in the 30-foot range.
“That playoff was quite a marathon,” Kizzire said.
Hahn has won both his PGA Tour title in playoffs, at Riviera and Quail Hollow. Closing with a 62 to even have a chance was no consolation.
“I played good enough to win, but I didn’t,” he said. “So for me, no matter how many birdies I make, if I’m not coming out of the room with the trophy, it really feels like I was defeated out there. I had a putt to win it. I’m going to be playing that over and over and over again.”
The six-hole playoff was the longest on the PGA Tour in just over five years, and given how the week transpired, it was only fitting.
Missing from the playoff was Tom Hoge, who did everything right in his bid to win for the first time on the PGA Tour except for one swing. He had a one-shot lead when he was between clubs on the 16th hole, and opted to hit a draw to the back-left pin. He turned it too much and it found the bunker. His next shot got hung up in the shaggy rough, he chipped that to 12 feet and missed to make double bogey to slip one shot behind.
Hoge gave himself two good chances with putts of about 7 feet. Both burned the edge. He shot 70 and had to settle for third place, his best finish on the PGA Tour.