Overnight co-leader Zach Blair crafted a 3-under-par 33-34=67 in the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii to conclude his second appearance at 19-under 261, one shot shy of a two-man playoff involving Brandt Snedeker and eventual champ Fabian Gomez. Snedeker, who shot 66 in the final round, had a chance to match Gomez on the second playoff hole with a 10-foot birdie putt of his own, but the putt never scared the hole.
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With the win, Gomez became the fourth Argentine with multiple triumphs on the PGA Tour, alongside Emiliano Grillo, Roberto de Vicenzo, Jose Coceres and Angel Cabrera.
Si Woo Kim, the 20-year-old from South Korea, finished strong with a birdie and an eagle for a 65 that put him two back.
Gomez won for the second time on the PGA Tour, and this one was much tougher.
However, neither player was able to pick up any further shots over the closing holes as the ocean breezes strengthened and Snedeker and Blair will go into the final round deadlocked atop a tightly bunched leaderboard.
Snedeker forced a playoff with a 4-foot birdie on the 18th, and Gomez outlasted him with another birdie – his 11th of the day – on the second extra hole.
British Open champion Zach Johnson was part of the mix until falling behind on the back nine.
Snedeker was stuck on 17 under with five holes remaining, having managed only two birdies to go with one dropped shot, but he stayed in touch with Gomez by picking up a shot at the 14th. Gomez closed with an 8-under-par 62 to force the playoff. Kisner still was in the mix until a bunker-to-bunker double bogey on the 17th ended his day.
The Argentinean scored a birdie on hole three and carded seven-straight birdies from hole six to 12. But he followed that streak with two straight bogeys, and only the great finish got him into the playoff. Snedeker’s final putt to halve the hole rolled past the cup, giving Gomez the victory.
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.
Blair saved par from 8 feet on the 16th hole to keep alive his chance, and he nearly cashed in with what he called the best 3-wood of his life from 280 yards. By then it appeared to be a three-man battle among Snedeker, Blair and Kisner.
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He struggled with the speed of the greens all week and fell flat at the start with seven pars and a bogey in his opening eight holes.
