Kevin Na has big finish, wins
Rallies to victory at Sony Open, fifth in four seasons
Honolulu Three shots behind with six holes to play, Kevin Na birdied three straight holes and finished with an up-anddown birdie from behind the 18th green for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot victory in the Sony Open.
Na won for the fifth time in his PGA Tour career, and this one looked unlikely when he three-putted for bogey on the 12th hole at a time where there was no room for mistakes.
He answered with birdie putts of 15, 10 and 6 feet, and the winning shot was out of the right rough on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae and ran just over the back of the green. He chipped to tap-in range for his last birdie.
Na finished one shot ahead of Joaquin Niemann and Chris Kirk.
Niemann chipped in for birdie from 55 feet on the par-3 17th and got upand-down with a long bunker shot on the 18th hole for a 66. Even so, he was runner-up for the second straight
week in Hawaii. The 22-year-old from Chile was 45-under par in two events.
Kirk closed with his fourth straight round of 65 — that wasn’t enough to win on a soft Waialae with no wind — and his tough pitch from below the 18th for birdie proved to be massive.
Na won for the fourth consecutive season, and he attributed the late surge to being happy at home with his wife and two children. He looked
comfortable even when the Sony Open appeared to be slipping away.
Once he made the 15-footer on the 13th hole, he started walking them in.
“I knew there was a lot of birdie holes left,” Na said. “I was having fun out there.”
Na finished at 21-under 259 and is assured of returning to Hawaii for two weeks next year, starting with the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua.